


Entanglement: A Steven Universe 'What If'

by UniversalMystery



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, F/M, Feelings, Fluff, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Running Away, Slow Burn, Spinel - Freeform, Steven Universe - Freeform, Steven Universe Future, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28809453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UniversalMystery/pseuds/UniversalMystery
Summary: This story has been cancelled. No more work is going into this fan-fiction. You can still read it if you'd like., but make sure to read Chapter 6 first. If you enjoy it, check out my new, and much better, story.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Spinel & Steven Universe, Spinel/Steven Universe, Steven Universe/Spinel
Comments: 30
Kudos: 27





	1. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has been cancelled. Please read the sixth chapter first. You can still read this story if you'd like.

Spinel stood on top of her SUPER DUPER injector(that’s what she called it), she just got her ass kicked by the crystal gems. Of course they’d beat her, why did she think she could beat them? 

I’m such an IDIOT - spinel thought to herself  
WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I TRUST HIM?... 

“It was that song… it was so lovely…” - spinel said out loud for some reason  
“B-but it was a ploy, just to mess with me! Stupid, stupid, stupid, STUPID!” - spinel said as she began to hit herself on the head with her fists. 

I can’t trust anyone, can I? Everyone’s bound to betray me, makes sense, I’m the worst… I should’ve let him reset me 

“Spinel?” - said a voice that came from behind her, Steven, he was panting, clearly out of breath 

“Come on, we can talk this out.” 

“I don’t want to play anymore.” - said spinel, tensing up 

Steven began to rub his eyes with his hands, “Spinel… This isn’t A GAME!” 

Swiftly, Spinel turned around and socked Steven in the jaw

“Huh?” - Steven said grabbing his jaw 

Spinel began to wind up another blow and BAM! Hit Steven square in the face, sending him hurling backwards. 

Steven fell off the side of the injector, barely managing to stop himself from falling off the edge. Spinel sent her right arm out to snatch him, grabbing him by the left arm and holding him up above her. 

“Ya know, I came here to take my anger out on a bunch of strangers…” - Spinel said, with a sinister look on her face. 

“But now that I know you, I wanna kill you even more.” - One by one, Spinel’s fingers began to let go of Steven’s left arm. Until only her index finger and thumb were holding Steven up by a thread. 

“I DON’T GET IT!” - Said Steven, Suddenly, leaving Spinel confused 

“Why aren’t my powers back? Aren’t I reliving every horrible thing that’s ever happened to me? A gem I barely know is trying to kill me, I’m paying for stuff my mom did that had NOTHING to do with me, I’m struggling with my powers, the world’s about to end, what piece could I be missing?” - Steven began to cry 

“THIS is the story of my life!” 

“BFFF-hahahahaha! Wow, I knew I was gonna set you back but... “ - Spinel began to move Steven around 

“This? This is how you started? The legend? Steven Universe? Hahahahahaha-You gotta be kidding me!” - Spinel laughed, like seriously? This was the legendary savior of the galaxy? Spinel… well, she kinda felt bad… only a little, of course but still, this was how bad things were for this guy? And he STILL managed to save the universe… impressive. 

“How did a powerless loser, like you, become savior of the galaxy?” - Spinel scoffed, not actually expecting an answer 

Change… - Present day Spinel thought 

What a stupid song… but at least Steven could sing, no wonder he ran away, I just suck at singing 

“I can make a promise…” - Steven began as Spinel readies for a fight 

“I can make a plan… I can make a difference… I can take a stand…” - Steven slammed his foot on to the ground, preparing for the upcoming battle 

“I can make an effort, if I only understand that I - I can make a change.” 

Steven and Spinel begin a short lived fight that Spinel doesn’t feel like remembering right now, there’s not much to remember anyway, Steven didn’t even fight back. 

“Listen to me, Spinel, I understand. After everything you’ve been through, you must be in a lot of pain.” - Steven says, now floating in the air and slowly descending 

“No..” - Spinel looks down at her gloved hands, not wanting to trust him again 

“No… NO!” - Spinel grabs her pigtails and hits herself on the head a good two times 

“You DON’T understand, you can’t change the way I feel!” 

Spinel attempts to punch him but Steven’s able to block her punches 

“That’s right! Only you can!” - Says Steven, much to Spinel’s annoyance 

Spinel enlarges her hands and grabs Steven, spinning for a bit and then tossing him in the air, only to jump up and join him. 

“You can make it different… You can make it right!” - Sings Steven as they fly upwards through the clouds 

“You can make it better!” - Spinel stares at the hybrid boy… not understanding how to feel anymore

Why… does he insist on this? He… he can't mean it… he has to be lying… but those eyes, is he actually… telling the truth? - Spinel thinks 

“We don’t have to fight!” - Sings Steven as they both burst through the clouds, Steven’s conveniently in front of the moon, making him all the more enticing. 

Spinel continues to fly upwards as Steven stays where he is and begins to slowly descend. 

“You can make an effort! Starting with tonight!” - Steven sings, opening his arms wide for Spinel 

Spinel stares in awe 

Why is he so cute? Why is he so good at singing? Just… j-just shut up! Let me kill you! 

Spinel enlarges her right hand and coils it into a spring 

“Cause you, you can make a change.”

[Present Day] 

It’s been several days since Steven’s breakdown… or was it weeks? Spinel had stopped counting. 

Spinel, the small, slim and fuchsia gem, lay atop the balcony railing, staring out into the vastness that was Homeworld. 

Spinel, who had been living with the diamonds for several months now, resided in Pink Diamond’s old room, which she found very uncomfortable, but she sucked it up for her new friends. 

Ever since Steven’s visit prior to his meltdown, Spinel couldn’t help but think. She literally couldn’t, every moment she wasn’t doing something she immediately found her mind wondering.  
Wondering to that stupid song…  
“My little reason why… I’ll never make you cry, oh, I’ve got the sweetest things to tell you every day.” - Sings blue diamond

She wasn’t singing to me… she was singing to Steven, I was just the third wheel… like always 

Spinel slid off the railing and sat up with her back on the railing. She started off into space as she continued to think. 

They… they only care about Steven don’t they? I mean… it makes sense, why would they want me around? I’m just their little placeholder for good ol’ Steven. 

Spinel closed her eyes and sighed. 

“Whatcha thinking about?” said a voice 

Spinel opened her eyes looked down at her reflection and sighed 

“Actually, don’t answer that, I already know… cause I’m you.” - said her reflection in a mocking tone 

“Yeah, I know… I know.” 

Spinel’s reflection, instead of being her actually reflection, was now her old self, heart buns and all 

“Why are you back?” - asked Spinel in an annoyed tone 

“Aw, you hate me that much?” 

“Yes, I hate myself that much.” 

“Alright, fine, I’ll explain it, since your soooooo stupid. Basically, I come around whenever you're having mental trouble, to, ya know, help steer you in the right direction.” - said her reflection in a demeaning manner

Spinel just sighed an even bigger sigh then before 

“Aw, c’mon, i’m only trying to help ya! You listened to me last time!” 

“Well, it’s not like I wanted to!” - said Spinel already fed up with the current situation

“Y’know what, doesn’t matter, just listen. The diamonds might not care about you but what’s the big deal? You knew this was coming! At least they kinda want you around!” 

Spinel just looked to her right, trying to ignore her reflection 

“Listen, any attention is better than no attention, right? They might not like you but at least they’re letting you live in the palace and tell them jokes! Albeit, demeaning jokes, but still jokes!” 

Spinel’s still trying to ignore her 

“Why can’t you just be happy?” - said The reflection in a sinister tone 

That struck a chord, why couldn’t she be happy? Every gem at homeworld might make fun of her but at least they give her attention, the diamonds might not actually want her around but at least they give her some attention. Not to mention she gets to live in a sweet palace! 

“Y’know what, I’m gonna go use some of Blue’s clouds, that always cheers me up!” says Spinel leaping to her feet 

“Yeah, go ahead, but it’s only temporary bliss and you know that.” - said her reflection one last time 

Spinel began to walk from her room to Blue’s room, the faint squeaking sound she makes as she steps echoing through the large and empty palace. 

Squeaking, with every step. Every. Step. 

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak 

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak 

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak

“STOP SQUEAKING!” - Spinel screams, turning to her, now normal, reflection 

She grabs her pigtails and begins to pull on them 

“JUST, STOP IT. FOR. ONE. SECOND. PLEASE, JUST STOP!” - Spinel screams at herself as she pulls her hair 

After a few more seconds of heavy breathing, she stops pulling her hair and leans forward, putting her right hand against the wall. She stares at her reflection with a defeated glare. 

“Please… why… can’t I just…*sigh*” - Spinel moves back and continues on her path 

What is wrong with me? I-I haven’t done something like that in… in months! Am… am I finally losing it? I just… I just really need some of those clouds, yeah, those will make everything better. 

Spinel walks into blue’s room, blue diamond, whose busy doing nothing, is laying on one of her clouds. 

“Hey Ya blue!” - says Spinel with a sudden cheerful tone, walking towards Blue diamond 

“Ah! Hello Spinel! How are you on this fine day?” - says Blue in her usual, calm, angelic tone 

“Oh, ya know, same old, same old. Any who, ya mind if I use one of yer clouds?” 

“Of course not! Help yourself, is something troubling you, Spinel?” - asks Blue 

“Oh… n-not really…” 

“Are you sure? Ever since we came back from Earth a few days ago you’ve been awfully… somber.” 

“Well, I-I guess I am a little worried about Steven but other than that I’m fine! Totally and completely fine!” - says Spinel, doing pretty dang good at hiding how not fine she is 

“Well, alright then, you don’t still blame yourself for that mess, do you?” 

This question, this question… Spinel didn’t want to hear it, yet, here she is. She has to keep it together, if they find out how messed up she is they’ll kick her out for sure. 

“N-NO!” - Spinel snaps out 

“I-I mean, no, I don’t, I-I just need some time to myself is all.” - Spinel quickly corrects 

“I… Okay, Spinel, but if you ever need to talk, we are here for you.” - says Blue, clearly concerned 

Spinel turns her back to blue, and quickly jumps onto a nearby cloud, expecting a sudden gut punch of warm, happy feelings to rush in.... any second now…. 

Where the happy? - Spinel asks herself, opening her eyes and no longer smiling 

Spinel looks down at the cloud, confused. She throws her head into the cloud, shaking her head, back and forth but there’s nothing. 

She moves her head back, sporting a bewildered and frightened expression. She is beyond confused, she never heard of blue’s clouds not working. The cloud’s just not doing anything, it’s not making her smile or giggle uncontrollably… it’s just empty… it’s not even comfortable to lay on either. 

“It… isn’t working?” - She says out loud 

“Why? Why aren’t you working!” - Spinel begins to scream as she fidgets with the cloud

“Spinel?” - inquires Blue, looking down at her 

“What isn’t working?” 

Spinel quickly turns around 

“I uhh… nothing! Everything’s fine! Do you mind if I just…” - Spinel grabs a bundle of clouds and holds them in her hands 

“If I just take some with me to my room?” 

“Well, I -” 

“Okay, thanks!” - says spinel rushing out of the room withouting letting Blue finish 

Spinel runs to her room, clouds in hand, and still squeaking all the way. She’s beginning to cry. 

Spinel manages to get back to her room before anyone notices. She shuts the door and begins shoving the clouds in her face.

Nothing… the clouds begin to disappear as they come into contact with her tears. 

“Oh, come on! I… this can’t be real! This cannot be real!” - Spinel says 

She shoves the last bit of cloud into her face but… Nothing, it disappears quickly, Spinel reaching out to try and stop it. 

Spinel looks down, crying, her tears falling onto the immaculate pink floor. She begins to form fists, her expression tensing up. 

She turns to her left and punches to the wall, cracking it and leaving a giant hole where her fist made contact. 

She looks up and sees her angry expression and tears rolling down her face. It’s spread out through all the shards on the now cracked wall. 

Some of the shards begin to fall onto the floor, Spinel’s arm returns to her and she falls onto the floor. Spinel enters the fetal position, thinking to herself. 

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? 

Why? Am I really that broken, that twisted? 

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? 

Why? Why? What should I do now? I can’t stay here, right? Why? Why? Why?

I’m Broken, worthless, twisted, they’ll kick me out, they already didn’t want me, they’ll want me even less now, I’m Broken, worthless, twisted, they’ll kick me out, they already didn’t want me, they’ll want me even less now, I’m Broken, worthless, twisted, they’ll kick me out, they already didn’t want me, they’ll want me even less now,I’m Broken, worthless, twisted, they’ll kick me out, they already didn’t want me, they’ll want me even less now, Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? 

Spinel’s mind is like a battlefield, constant chaos, sudden explosions, bullets of pain and self hatred whizzing by constantly. It changes every second, so many voices, so much screaming, so much pain. Pure chaos. 

“Oh cheer up, buttercup, they ain’t gonna kick you out!” - says Spinel’s “reflection” 

Spinel just ignores her 

“Alright, give me the silent treatment, not like I care.” 

Spinel continues to ignore her 

“Ugh, fine, Spinel, listen, the way I see it is you’ve got two options. 1. Stay here with the diamonds and continue to hide the truth from them or 2. Run away.” 

“Where. Where would I run to?” - asks Spinel 

“I don’t know, Earth? Maybe Steven will help or something.” 

“NO, I-I can’t… I would just make things worse for him… Im… what’s the word? Toxic? Something like that plus he’s still recovering, another burden like me would only slow him down.” 

Spinel wholeheartedly believes she’s terrible for people, she believes anyone she becomes friends with she’ll hurt at some point. She picked up the term toxic from one of the Earth gems that were visiting homeworld. She knew right away that’s what she was, afterall, she did try to literally poison a whole planet. 

“Yeah, you’re right, plus he didn’t help you before. Why would he help you now?” - Says the reflection in a teasing tone 

“Wha-what are talking about?” - Spinel inquired 

“Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about!” 

Spinel thought for a moment

“No, you're lying! He… he helped me!” 

“Shut up… I wouldn’t be saying it if you weren’t already thinking it.” 

“I-I’m not! He helped me! I know he did!” 

“How? In what way did he help you? Oh, wait, he sang a few songs then threw you to the diamonds, that’s not helping, that’s discarding. He threw you away and made you someone else's problem.” 

Spinel, just stopped, she couldn’t believe it. Did she really feel this way? Has she really been lying to herself this whole time? 

I mean, he did just sing a song to me then let me leave with the diamonds… no questions asked - Spinel thought 

“You’re… you’re right…” - Spinel admitted 

“See, you really should listen to me more.” 

Spinel laid back down, not sure what to do… she really does have to stay here, doesn’t she? But can she really keep up a facade for who knows how long?

Suddenly, the door to her room opened 

“Hey, uh, Spinel?” asked a timid and soft-spoken voice, Spinel recognised it as Blue Pearl 

“Oh my stars! What did you do to the wall?” said a snarky, more obnoxious voice, Spinel recognised it as Yellow Pearl 

“Spinel are you okay? We heard yelling and thought -” - Blue Pearl began to walk into the room but was suddenly punched in the gut by spinel, sending her backwards 

Spinel’s arm returned to her as she sprang up 

“I… I-I didn’t....” - Spinel tried to speak but couldn’t, the words just weren’t forming 

“What is wrong with you? Why would you do that?” - Yellow Pearl Snapped 

“Are you okay? Is your gem cracked at all?” - Asked Yellow Pearl to Blue Pearl 

They both Looked at her gem and it was fine, they then looked up at Spinel, who simply backed away with an extremely guilty look on her face. 

The two pearls got up and run from Spinel’s room 

“Hey! Wait, I-I’m sorry, I…” - It was too late, the Pearl’s were already gone

I’m so screwed 

[10 minutes later] 

“Spinel, care to explain yourself?” - Asked White Diamond as she towered over Spinel 

Spinel just looked down, not daring to try and make eye contact 

“Well?” asked White, getting impatient

“White, be patient, she’ll speak when ready.” - says Blue

“Sorry but I just need to know what has gotten into her!” 

“I’d like to know myself, aswell, it seems she’s been quite different since we came back from Earth.” - says Yellow Diamond

“That’s what I was thinking!” - says Blue 

Spinel just continues to ignore them, White sighs 

“Listen, Spinel, we’re all going through a lot right now, so just please tell us what’s wrong!” - says white

“Yes, please!” - says blue 

“We promise to forgive you about the pearls as long as you -” 

“JUST SHUT UP!” - Spinel snaps, she’s had enough for one day

“I’M SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THIS! I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE LYING, YOU DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ME!... All you guys care about is Steven!” 

“What? How dare you assume-” - says White getting cut off 

“JUST SHUT IT, YOU CAN’T LIE TO ME ANYMORE, I-I’VE HAD ENOUGH LIES, OKAY? I...I-I’m done...I DONE, YA HEAR!” - Spinel turns around and begins strutting out of the palace 

“Spinel, wait!” - says blue 

“NO! YOU GUYS CAN GO AND FIND ANOTHER REPLACEMENT FOR STEVEN, OKAY? BECAUSE I’M THROUGH!” - Spinel says as she begins to descend the palace stairs

Spinel steps on the warp pad and activates it, not looking back, not even a little. 

Spinel arrives at Steven’s galaxy warp, Spinel looks around, realising where she is. It suddenly hits her that she hasn’t warped anywhere on Earth but here, so she must have just warped here on instinct. 

She leaves the conservatory and steps onto the balcony, realizing it’s nighttime on Earth. She walks down the stairs and leans on the railing, gazing out onto the nighttime beach. She admires the beauty of how the moonlight reflects off the ocean and how nice the moon looks, she notes it’s a full moon just like when Steven sang to her on her injector. For a split second, she was almost able to forget everything. 

Soon, however, she snaps back to reality. She notices the sliding glass door behind her and peers through. The room on the other side is empty. 

She begins to reach for the handle but she stops herself. 

Don’t go into his house, just jump off the balcony…  
Screw it, I’m going in. 

Spinel opens the door and walks into the room, she quickly realizes it’s a bedroom. 

This is where humans… sleep, right? Whatever that is. 

She decides to not waste anytime and extends her neck to peek downstairs, she notices… Steven 

He’s in the kitchen, making… something, she doesn’t know what since she’s never eaten Earth food. Steven soon turns around and begins washing some dishes that were in the sink. 

Great, this is my chance, I can quickly get downstairs and get out through the front door… or just jump off the balcony… nah, that’s not as fun. 

Spinel returns her neck to normal length and begins to slowly descend the stairs, trying her damnedest to not squeak. She goes down one step at a time, very slowly. She peaks around the corner one last time, he’s still distracted. 

Spinel begins to round the corner… and trips on her own foot. She begins to fall down the stairs, loudly. 

Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, IDIOT - Spinel thinks to herself. 

She tumbles down the stairs and lands flat on her gem with a crack. 

Steven turns around, frightened by the loud noise. He sees Spinel, who's already sitting up, holding her hands to her gem. 

“Spinel?” - Steven asks, confused

Spinel looks over at him, startled. Steven puts down whatever he was holding and rushes over to her. 

“Spinel, what are you doing in my house at 1 am?” - He says annoyed 

“Wha-what are you doing in your house at 1 am?” 

“I live here.” 

“Right…” - Spinel says, looking away and back down at her gem 

“Spinel, are… are you okay? I heard that sound, is… is your gem cracked?” 

Spinel looks back at him 

“Nah, why would you even say that, pfff, infact why would you even think that, hahaha.” - Spinel says as she then begins to glitch, her form flickering and spazzing out for a sec before going back to normal 

“That's why…” - Steven says, he tries to get closer to her but she panics and backs away, revealing her gem. 

Steven looks at her gem, it has a decently sized crack down the middle, and it’s growing. 

The two lock eyes...tears forming in Spinel’s 

“S-Steven…”


	2. The Runaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This story has been cancelled. Please read the sixth chapter first. You can still read this story if you'd like.
> 
> Spinel decides to stay at little homeworld, trying her best not to bother Steven or the crystal gems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has been cancelled. Please read the sixth chapter first. You can still read this story if you'd like.

“S-Steven…” 

Spinel and Steven are staring at each other, Spinel’s pigtails are hanging low making her look almost human. She’s beginning to cry, most likely scared due to her gem being cracked. 

“Don’t worry, i-it’s fine, I can fix it.” - Steven says in a calm voice, he kneels down to get to her level

Steven licks his hand, and holds towards Spinel 

“Oh, r-right, you have healing powers… hehe, I forgot…” - Says Spinel, clearly ashamed of her own stupidity 

Steven ignores her comment and rubs his hand on her gem, it glows for a second and then he removes his hand, revealing her gem is now healed. 

“See? Good as new…” - Steven sits down, one leg laying down on the floor and one upright. He puts his right hand on top of his right leg, the one still standing, and his left arm on the floor, mimicking Spinel’s position. 

The two continue to stare at each other, Spinel notes that Steven’s wearing a plain yellow shirt and striped pants. She also notes how tired he looks, bags under his eyes, almost like how he looked when he fought her on the SUPER DUPER Injector. 

“So… why are you here?” - Steven asks, mildly irritated

Spinel looks down at the floor, breaking eye contact for the first time since they initially locked eyes. 

“D-does it matter?” - Spinel asks 

“Yeah, it does…” -Steven rubs his eyes 

“Listen, I-I’m not really in the right mental state to deal with your shenanigans, right now.” 

“I know!” - Spinel swiftly replies 

“I… I don’t want to bother you, I didn’t think anyone was home… I-I was trying to leave through the front door and I tripped, clumsy ol me…” - Spinel says, faking a laugh 

Steven stares at her, he blinks slowly and stands up 

“Aren’t you supposed to be with the diamonds?” - Steven asks as he goes back to the kitchen 

Spinel stands up as well, her pigtails still hanging low, she follows him. 

“Y-yeah but… but something happened, I… I wanna get away from them, for a while… or forever.” - Spinel says, still avoiding looking at him 

Stupid, Spinel, don’t tell him anything! He’ll probably force you to go back with the diamonds!  
\- Spinel thinks to herself 

“Oh, yeah? Didn’t see that one coming…” - Steven starts what spinel assumes is the sink, using it’s running water to wash off a knife

“Was that… sarcasm?” - Spinel asks, almost surprised 

“Yeah, it was…” - Steven finishes washing the knife and uses a nearby towel to dry his hands 

“The diamonds… they're obsessive, clingy, overbearing, and maybe a tad bit neglectful. I kinda thought they’d be perfect for you but I did have my doubts.” - Steven says as he picks up a plate with something on it and walks over to the nearby table and sits down 

“What’d they do to you?” - Steven says as he picks up his food and takes a bite 

Spinel looked at him, confused, she knew what eating was but she had no clue what he was eating. That very thought gave her an idea. 

“What are you doing? Aren’t humans supposed to be asleep right now?” - Spinel asks, avoiding Steven’s question

Steven Looks at her, a tad bit annoyed

“I’m eating a sandwich… I’m hungry…” - Steven says, mouth still full 

A sandwich… noted - Spinel thinks 

“So, are you gonna answer my question?” - Steven asks, having now swallowed his food 

“Well, are you gonna answer my question?” - Spinel asks, who’s both curious and trying to avoid answering his question

Steven sighs, and chuckles a little. Meanwhile, Spinel sits down as well. 

“Okay, I really don’t want to play games with you but, fine… I couldn’t sleep. I know, it’s been weeks since-” 

“Weeks? Since your breakdown?” - Spinel can’t believe it, weeks? She knew she stopped counting but she didn’t actually think it’s been weeks 

“Yeah, weeks, about 3 and half I think.” 

“I… I didn’t realize it’s been THAT long, earlier the diamonds only said it’s been a few days.” 

Spinel thinks to herself, did they actually think it’s only been a few days because for them time moves really fast? For Spinel, a hyperactive gem, every 5 seconds she wasn’t do something felt like 5 hours. But for the diamonds 1 week felt like 1 day, she never actually gave it much thought but she guesses that must be the case. 

“Yeah, well, it’s been a few weeks. The gems say I’ve already done better, I’ve even started going to therapy… but… I-I still have these… these nightmares.” - Steven says, Spinel just can’t believe how open he’s being 

“Nightmares?” - Spinel inquires 

“Yeah, like a frightening or unpleasant experience you have while you're asleep. It’s basically just a bad dream. You know what dreams are, right?” - Steven asks, unsure of Spinel’s knowledge 

“Yeah, I guess I do… I understand, I’ve had a few of those recently.” 

This surprises Steven

“Really? I didn’t think you’d sleep…” 

“No, while I’m awake…” 

“Oh… Well -” - Steven takes another bite of his sandwich 

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be happy here… *swallow* The gems are great teachers, they’ll get you the help you need.” - Steven takes another bite as he finishes his sentence 

Spinel’s relieved, she really didn’t want to burden Steven, for more then one reason of course. He’s got his own problems to deal with and Spinel really doesn’t want to be one of them. 

“You think so? You sure I’ll fit in at Little Homeworld?” 

“Yeah, I mean, as long as you don’t destroy the place.” - Steven takes another bite 

Spinel remembered that, when she was rejuvenated she destroyed a whole building. She has changed since then but… she thinks back to the wall she punched at homeworld… has she really changed? 

Without her realizing it, Steven had already finished his food. Steven sat up and threw away his sandwich. He walked over to the stairs but before going up them he turned around and looked at Spinel 

“Are you, just gonna sit there?” 

Spinel jumps a little, having her train of thought interrupted. She turns around and realizes the situation she’s in. She quickly stands up and moves over to Steven. 

“Sorry, got lost in thought…” 

“It’s fine, listen, it’s probably best if you stay here tonight.” 

“Huh?!” - Spinel’s shocked, what does he mean ‘stay here tonight?’ 

“Y’know, cause it’s the middle of the night. If you're gonna stay at Little Homeworld now, you’ll have to wait till morning so you can get enrolled and everything. And I don’t feel comfortable letting you roam around all alone in the dead of night.” 

Spinel immediately understands, who would feel comfortable leaving her alone at night? Plus, he’s right, on Earth most things are done during the day so if she wants to get settled in she’ll have to wait. 

“Yeah, I get it… but where would I stay?” 

“Like I said here, you could stay on the couch or… or maybe in my room, I do have an old sleeping bag I could give you…” 

“I choose the latter…” - Spinel says without hesitation

“Oh… Okay then, follow me.” - Steven says gesturing for her to follow

Steven walks up the stairs into his room, Spinel close behind, she’s squeaking again. 

“Okay, just wait right here, well I get the sleeping bag.” - Steven quickly walks over to the closet in his room, opens it and pulls out a gray, moderately sized, sleeping bag. Steven unrolls the sleeping bag and places it onto the floor next to his bed. 

“Well, there ya go, if you want a pillow I can give you one.” 

“No, I’ll be fine.” 

Spinel gets into the sleeping bag, stopping just at her armpits. Spinel’s arms lay on top of the sleeping bag while she stares up into the ceiling. 

Meanwhile, Steven gets onto his bed, goes under the covers and lays his head onto his pillow. 

After a few minutes of silence, Steven suddenly breaks it. 

“So, how was homeworld?” - Steven asks, laying bed, staring at the ceiling

Spinel doesn’t know what to do, should she answer it? Or should she try to avoid it? After a few seconds of thought she decides to answer, after all Steven was open to her about his nightmares. 

“It was lonely…” 

Steven wasn’t expecting that answer

“I’m the only Spinel on Homeworld, literally, there are no other Spinels… I’m the only one. So, it gets lonely, not many gems, well, like me.” - Spinel says, dropping any sort of comedic or energetic tone for a serious one 

“Really? I thought the diamonds liked you.” 

“No... no they don’t, they only wanted me because they wanted you but they couldn’t have ya.” 

“Oh… is that why you left? You realized they didn’t like you?” 

“Yeah… among other things… Most gems on Homeworld hate me, call me names and say things behind my back… they also find me very annoying but to be fair, I am…” 

Spinel thinks back to all the annoying things she’s done, such as pranks, budding in on conversations, stupid jokes, the squeaking. 

“Oh, I… I never would have realized things were that bad… You seemed so happy when I… When I visited.” - Steven says, growing genuinely concerned

“I thought I was… but you know what helped realize how bad things were?” 

“What?” 

“You… your visit helped me see the truth, I… I guess it just took me time to accept it.” 

That made Steven a little happy, despite how much he’s going through right now, knowing he helped Spinel escape from the Diamonds lies made him happy. After all, he does care about her, he might not want to be friends with her but he doesn’t want her to get hurt again. 

“I’m sorry, Spinel, I shouldn’t have let you go with the diamonds.” 

“No, don’t say that, I’m not your responsibility, I wanted to go… I did it to myself.” 

That… that was surprisingly mature for Spinel, Steven thought, it genuinely surprised him. 

“Well, either way, don’t worry, I’m certain things are gonna get better for you.” - Says Steven, he really hopes that Spinel’s able to find happiness here, he might not be able to help her but he knows people that will. And he trusts them. 

[The Following Morning] 

Steven wakes up, the suns shining through the sliding door, he looks over at his clock and it reads ‘9:37’ 

Steven rubs his eyes, and sits up. He looks to his left and sees Spinel, he almost forgot she was here. Her eyes are wide open, she looks over at him. 

“How long have you been awake?” - Steven asks 

“All night.” 

“You.. you don’t know how to sleep, do you?” 

“No, I do, I just kept waking up.” 

“Why?” 

“Nightmares.” 

“Okay… well, we should get moving, the gems will be-” 

“HEY, STEVEN! YOU UP?” - Yells a voice from downstairs, Spinel recognizes the voice, Amethyst, right? 

“Speak of the devil, hey, you can just leave the sleeping bag on the floor, I’ll put it away later.” - Steven says as he gets up and walks over to his dresser. He grabs a pair of jeans and then walks over to the closet and grabs a black shirt. He lays them both on the bed and begins to change. Spinel closes her eyes, knowing right away she isn’t supposed to see this. 

“Hey, you can open your eyes.” - Spinel opens her eyes, Steven’s changed already

“Sorry, I’m in a rush, come downstairs when you're ready.” - Steven picks up his pink jacket and runs down the stairs 

Spinel gets up and instead of leaving the sleeping bag on the floor, like Steven suggested, she rolls it up and tosses it in the closet. She just really doesn’t want to be a burden. 

Spinel stands at the edge of the stairs, building up the courage to go downstairs and face the three gems she hadn’t seen in a long while. 

Her mind goes back to when she attacked Steven, she had just gotten her memories back and Steven was encouraging her to come downstairs and say hi. She wishes she could go back and redo things, and do them right this time. 

But she knows that’s impossible, so she breathes in and walks down the stairs, still squeaking, much to her annoyance. 

“So, Steven, how are you feeling?” - Spinel over hears Pearl talking to Steven, however Steven doesn’t get to respond before everyone notices Spinel 

They all look over at her, Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst look at her with puzzled faces. Steven is just smiling at her, which makes her feel warm inside, helping her gain the courage to say something. 

“Hiiiii… Long time no seeeee…” - Spinel says very awkwardly 

“Hello, Spinel, I had a feeling you were here.” - says Garnet 

“You knew and you didn’t say anything?” - says Pearl, a little upset 

“Well, she was late so I assumed we weren’t in that timeline.” 

“That makes perfect sense, Garnet.” - says Amethyst, looking away from Spinel and down at a large plate of food she had made for herself 

“Well, hello, Spinel, what brings you here today?” - asks Pearl 

For some reason, Pearl’s tone of voice makes Spinel angry but she ignores it 

“Ok, so, hear me out… I… I was hoping that… maybe I could…” - Spinel's struggling to get the words out 

“You’d like to live at Little Homeworld?” - asks Garnet 

“Yeah, What she said…” - Spinel says, relieved Garnet was able to say it 

“What? Really? What about the diamonds?” - asks Pearl 

“Who cares? She can live at little homeworld if she wants.” - says amethyst right before consuming the entire plate of food in one gulp, including the plate

“Are you sure it’s a good idea? I mean… Spinel can be a little chaotic, and do we really want to put Steven’s mental health at risk?…” 

This makes Steven sigh, he stands up off the chair he was sitting on and looks over at the gems 

“Really, guys? I’m fine! I’m going to therapy every other day and Connie visits or calls every day, how much harm could it be for you guys to return to little homeworld for just a little bit to help Spinel get settled in? Plus, have you forgotten, Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis are there. I know for a fact they can handle Spinel perfectly fine!” - Steven says, trying to make a good case for little ol Spinel 

Spinel was upset at first but seeing Steven jump to help her like this, well, it’s really nice. She doesn’t understand why but this makes her really happy. But the notion of the Crystal Gems having to ‘handle’ her makes her a little less happy. 

“He has a point Pearl, Steven has done a lot better already. And I don’t foresee any harm in helping another lost gem find a home.” - Garnet says, tampering with her star shaped glasses a little

“Yeah, and I could stay here with Steven while you two help Spinel! I have nothing better to do anyways.” - says Amethyst 

Spinel notes how Pearl stops to think for a second, she does understand where Pearl was coming from but Spinel really has nowhere else to go. If she can’t stay here on Earth, then, where will she stay? 

“Alright, Alright, Me and Garnet will help Spinel get settled in but only if Amethyst stays with Steven.” - says Pearl 

“Really? Thank you soooo much!” - says Spinel a tad bit too excited 

Steven sighs, relieved. 

“Thank you guys, trust me, I’ll be fine.” - says Steven going to sit down on the couch

“Yeah, I know, Steven, We’ll be home before dinner.” - Says Garnet walking over to the warp pad 

Pearl walks over to Garnet and looks over to Spinel 

“Come on, Spinel, let’s head over to little homeworld!” - Pearl yells over at Spinel 

Spinel jumps down from the stairs and runs over to the warp pad 

She and Steven lock eyes, Steven flashing a smile. Spinel and the two crystal gems warp away

The next few days were honestly really great. Pearl and Garnet helped Spinel get enrolled in Little Homeschool and get her a nice little apartment to live in. 

She then spoke with Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis. All four of them had already met but this was a more formal introduction. They were really supportive and friendly. 

As for Little Homeschool, it was easy, Spinel got the hang of it really fast. However, she doesn’t have much interest in some of the secondary classes, like the art or gardening classes. But apart from that, everything is going great so far. No gems seem to hate her or make fun of her, she even gets along well with Peridot and Bismuth. Lapis, not so much. 

Spinel avoided talking about her mental troubles but it’s not like she’s really had any outbursts or mood swings recently, so as far as she’s concerned she doesn’t need to. She has some troubling thoughts every now and then but she’s managed to ignore them. 

[10 days after Spinel’s arrival]

It was about 8:30, Spinel was walking to her apartment from the Big Donut. Donuts have quickly become Spinel’s guilty pleasure, she remembered eating them when she was rejuvenated but doesn’t remember the taste so she decided to try them again. She quickly fell in love, her favorite are the plain glazed donuts, not too sweet or bitter, just right. 

On her way back she began to hear someone crying, she had learned from little homeschool not to talk to strangers but her curiosity got the best of her. She went to the source of the sound, which was an ally in Little Homeworld, she soon found out the source of the cries wasn’t a stranger. It was Steven. 

“S-Steven?” - Spinel said, walking towards the boy. 

Steven looked up, and made eye contact with Spinel. But he quickly went back to crying. 

“Steven, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” - Spinel asked as she knelt down to be at Steven’s level

Spinel put her bag of donuts down and put a hand on Steven’s shoulder. 

“Come on, you can tell good ol Spinel.”

Steven looked at Spinel and wiped away his tears 

“I messed up…” - Steven said in a weak voice 

“What? Whaddya mean?” 

“My friend, Connie, me and her… we… we got in a fight and I said something I shouldn’t have.” 

Spinel understood that feeling, yes, she hasn’t had an outburst since she moved into little homeworld but still, she understood. 

“I understand… Do you want a donut?” - Spinel reached for the bag of donuts and offered one of the treats to Steven 

Steven looked at the treat, he hesitated, but eventually took the donut from Spinel’s hand and took a bite. 

“I… I’m not very good at helping people like you but… if you want to talk about it we could go to my place and eat some donuts.” - said Spinel trying to being helpful 

Steven looked at her, tears in his eyes, donut in his mouth. He eventually nodded and began to stand up with Spinel.

Steven and Spinel enter Spinel’s apartment 

"This is your apartment? It's so small." says Steven, examining the small apartment that's a mix of Homeworld and Earth in design 

"Yeah but I kinda like it, it's nice and cozy." 

Steven walks over to the dining table and sits down. He puts his head in his hands, Spinel sits down across from him, donut bag still in hand. 

“Sooo, what happened.” - Spinel says as she puts the bag on the table and begins taking donuts out. 

Steven puts his arms down on the table and looks at the donuts. 

“She came over today for a visit and… and I was happy because the last few days she’s only called me.” - Steven picks up a donut and takes a bite 

“Okay, and?” 

“And everything was going so great but then she told me she’ll be going out of town for a few days. I-I don’t know why, b-but I got super upset about this and… and I yelled at her!” - Steven said taking another bite

Spinel took a bite of her own donut, she could completely understand getting upset over someone leaving but she had grown to know and understand that yelling at someone over it was not okay. So it was a little surprising to hear Steven did something that she'd normally do. 

“I… I told her that she was an egotistical brat who cared more about her future then her best friend and… then I stormed out of the house.” - Steven finished his donut and wiped away his tears 

In all honesty, Spinel expected worse. 

“I made her cry, just before I stormed out of the house… I saw her cry. I…” - Steven put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes 

Spinel doesn’t know how to respond… She really isn’t anything like Steven, or a therapist. All she can do is be there for him and listen. 

“This Connie… Is she the sword girl who almost stabbed me?” - Spinel said, only half joking 

Steven removed his head from his hands and laughed 

“Yeah, that’s Connie.” 

Spinel thought for a second 

“Listen, you don’t need to say anything, I really don’t want to force you into my business.” - Steven said in an apologetic tone 

“No, wait a minute, I want to talk.” 

This response shocked Steven, she wants to talk with him about Connie? 

“I really don’t want to bother you but you did help me get settled on Earth so… I-I’d like to help you apologise to your friend.” - Spinel said, determined to be helpful for once

“Well, if you want to then, I guess I have no choice.” - Steven took another donut and bit into it 

“I just… I just want you to know that I… I proposed to Connie.” - Steven said swallowing the piece of donut in his mouth 

Spinel was confused, proposed? What’s that? 

“Whaddya mean, proposed?” - Spinel inquires, just genuinely confused 

The two stare at each other for a second, Steven smiles 

“Oh, you don’t know what proposed means, do you?” 

Spinel shakes her head 

“Hahaha, okay, well, basically… oh this is embarrassing, I… do you… do you know what it means to ‘fall in love with someone?’” - Steven, clearly embarrassed, tries to press Spinel on her knowledge of feelings 

“Yeah, I do… but I guess you could say it’s kinda foriegn to me.” - Spinel responds pretty quickly 

Steven raises an eyebrow, a little confused by here statement. 

“What I mean is, I was made for friendship, so the idea of something beyond friendship is… well I guess it’s strange.” 

“Oh, I get it, I’m sure you’ll understand it one day.” - Steven says trying to comfort her 

“Do you really think so? I’ve just kinda thought maybe that kind of love was something I’m just incapable of experiencing.” - Spinel says in a strangely cheerful tone 

“Don’t say that, I’m sure you're capable of feeling romantic love, Spinel, you just have to find someone.” 

Spinel thinks about his words but decides to ignore them. 

“Anyway, this isn’t about me, it’s about you. So what does ‘proposed’ mean?” 

Steven sits back in his chair. 

“Well, basically, I… I love Connie, and, well… you propose to someone you really, really love so that you two can be together forever. It’s called marriage, but she said no and…” 

Together forever, huh? Spinel couldn’t believe it, he loved Sword Girl that much, huh? Well, Spinel might be nothing compared to her but she’ll be damned before she lets Steven’s one true love slip away from him. 

“Say no more, I understand, so your girlfriend rejected you and -” 

“She isn’t my girlfriend, Spinel, we’re not even dating.” 

That shocked Spinel 

“Wait, you asked her to marry you and you're not even dating? Geez la weez, Steven what were you thinking?” 

“Yeah, you don’t have to tell me twice… But she didn’t really reject me, she just said that now wasn’t the right time. So I guess that means she does love me too but she just isn’t ready for marriage. Which makes a lot of sense, in hindsight.” - Said Steven, not really enjoying this conversation. 

Spinel had to stop and think for a second, what can Steven do to apologize to Connie and tell her how much he loves her WITHOUT proposing again? 

“OH! I know!” - Spinel suddenly shouts out 

“What is it?” - asks Steven 

“You should go to her and be all like *Spinel stands up and starts doing an impression of Steven* ‘Connie! I just wanted to say that I made a serious lapse of my judgement and didn’t mean anything I said to you! I just want to let you know that I love you more than anything!’ And-and then you give her a present of some sort to show her that you really mean it.” - Spinel then looks at Steven with an enthusiastic face waiting for Steven’s feedback 

“Well, it’s not the worst idea.” - Steven’s response made Spinel smile 

“But, what would I give her?” - Steven asks 

“I don’t know, something important to you I guess.” 

Steven nods and stands up, grabbing one more donut for the road 

“Wait, your actually gonna do it?” - Spinel didn’t actually think he was gonna listen to her 

Steven walks over to the door 

“Yeah, I don’t have any better ideas so I might as well try yours.”- Steven takes a bite of the donut 

“Thanks for, uh, listening to me Spinel. Maybe we should hang out more.” - Steven says as he opens the door 

“No, we really shouldn’t… Y-you have better things to do then hang out with someone who tried to kill you.” - Spinel says sitting back down 

“What do you mean? Some of my bestest friends are people who tried to kill me. Plus, I’d like to talk with more.” - Steven then flashes one last smile and closes the door, he’s officially off to make amends with Sword Girl 

Spinel cares about Steven, a lot. She’s even forgotten about the whole, ‘he didn’t actually help you’ thing. However, she does still believe that, but she can’t blame him. It doesn’t matter to her right now though, after all he did help defend her to the crystal gems when they had their doubts about her and also healed her gem. 

But she does mean it, she doesn’t want Steven to hang out with her, because she knows that with time, he’ll see how broken she really is. Not to mention she’d only make his recovery harder, she’d much prefer it if he’d leave her alone. 

However, she’s glad she decided to help him tonight, maybe with him and Connie’s relationship fixed he’ll be focused on her more. 

But who knows… who knows…


	3. The Steven conundrum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This story has been cancelled. Please read the sixth chapter first. You can still read this story if you'd like.
> 
> Spinel doesn't know what to do about Steven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has been cancelled. Please read the sixth chapter first. You can still read this story if you'd like.

It’s been one day since Steven and Spinel’s talk. Spinel still is dead set about trying to leave Steven alone, but she’s a little scared that Steven will try and stick to his word. 

Currently, Spinel is sitting on a desk at the front of a classroom in little homeworld. There are about eleven other gems in the same class with her. Pearl stands at the front of the class, behind her is a whiteboard with a map of the United States on it. 

“Okay class, who can tell me what country we are currently living in?” - Pearl asks the class 

Spinel immediately raises her hand with great enthusiasm. Pearl points at Spinel and says her name. 

“Out of all the countries on Earth, we are currently living in the United States of… America?” - Spinel answers, losing confidence at the end. 

“Correct! And how many states are there in America?” 

Spinel stops to think for a second 

“50?” 

“What? 50? That’s outrageous! That’s way too many, it’d never function as a stable government! The correct answer was 39, you lose 2 pearl points.” 

Spinel leans back in her chair, defeated.

“Ah, darn, I can never remember this stuff.” 

“You do know this is your first day in this class, right?” - Pearl says, trying to be a supportive teacher 

Before Spinel could respond, an alarm goes off. 

“Well, that’s the end of today’s class, remember to study those notebooks! I worked very hard on them!” - Pearl announces to the class 

Spinel gets up and leaves the building, walking with a small bag slung over her shoulder. She stops just outside of the building to put away the notebook she was carrying. Just as she latches the latch on her bag she hears a familiar voice yell her name. 

“Spinel! Hey, over here!” - Spinel looks to her left and sees Steven running towards her 

What does he want? Was he actually serious about wanting to hang out more? I hope not… - Spinel thinks to herself 

“Steven? What are you doing here?” - Spinel says as she turns to face him 

“Don’t worry, I just wanted to speak with you real quick, I know you’ve got other classes.” - Steven says as he walks up to her 

Spinel quickly notices Steven isn’t wearing his usual pink jacket. Instead he’s sporting a simple, Maroon, zip-up hoodie. 

“Hey, you aren’t wearing your pink jacket.” 

Steven looks down at his jacket 

“Oh, yeah, this is actually an older jacket. Not as comfortable as my other one but I don’t really have a choice.” 

“Why’s that?” 

“Oh, well, you see… I did exactly what you said to do. I went to Connie, who was still at my house, and told her what you said but I… I might have left out the ‘I love you’ part…” - Steven finishes with a hint of guilt in his voice 

“Why’d you do that?” 

“Oh, I just… I got a little nervous but I still manage to get the message across. She forgave me and everything, so it doesn’t really matter, I guess.” 

Spinel’s happy for him but he still hasn’t said what happened to his jacket 

“Okay, great, but what about the jacket?” 

“Oh, yeah, you said to give her a gift and that was my gift.” 

Spinel was a little confused, that was his gift? His jacket? Seems a little cliche but it worked, right? 

“So, yeah, thanks for giving me the advice. I don’t think I would’ve done it without your help.” - As Steven said this, Spinel felt her face heat up. He was thanking her? No, that can’t be right. There’s no way the advice she gave him as a joke actually worked, he’s gotta be pranking her. 

“Oh, c’mon, Universe, you're pulling my leg, right? There’s no way my advice actually helped!” 

“No, Spinel, I’m serious. When you found me in the ally all I could come up with was cutting off all contact with her out of guilt. But, you manage to help steer me in the right direction, so, seriously, thank you!” - This only served to make Spinel’s face more red, he was actually being serious. Spinel actually helped him, who would’ve seen that one coming. 

“Anyway, what’s with the bag?” - Steven asks, probably just to change the subject

“Oh, I use this to carry my school supplies.” 

“Ah, I thought so, but couldn’t you just store things in your gem?” 

Spinel was speechless, as expected of Spinel she had completely forgotten she could do that. But, honestly, she liked the bag, she’ll probably keep using it, just for the hell of it. 

“Y-yeah, but I just thought using a bag would be fun. It makes me feel more in touch with Earth culture, y’know?” - Spinel threw out the first thing she could come up with 

“Alright, good for you, but you probably should get going to your next class.” 

Spinel had almost forgotten about that 

“Oh, dang, your right! I’m gonna be late!” - Spinel facepalmed and quickly started running in the opposite direction of where Steven came from. 

For a split second, Spinel turned around, she saw Steven put his hands in his pockets and walk in the opposite direction. She began to think, maybe, I’m not so toxic after all… I was able to help Steven with his relationship, but was that really enough? Either way, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if Steven started hanging out with me more… Maybe, maybe not...

[Friday, 3:25 pm] 

With classes done for the day, Spinel makes her way over to Peridot’s greenhouse. Today is movie night, Peridot’s favorite activity. 

Spinel has no problem supporting her friend’s weird interests even if she doesn’t understand them. Especially since not all of Peridot’s friends can indulge with her because they’re busy doing other things. However, Spinel is almost always free so she tends to spend a lot of time going back and forth between Peridot, Bismuth and anyone else who requests assistance. Luckily for Peridot, however, Movie Night is Spinel’s favorite as well, mostly because it’s something she actually understands. So Spinel always does Movie Night, no matter what. 

Spinel walks into the greenhouse, it’s mostly empty, well, except for Peridot of course. 

“Heyyy, Peridot, how’s it going with ya?” - Spinel walks over to Peridot who’s moving some plant fertilizer 

Peridot sets the fertilizer down and looks over at Spinel 

“Everything’s going great, Spinel, all my plants are thriving and tonight's Movie Night!” - Peridot says with a contagious enthusiasm 

“Yeah, I know! What movie’s on the agenda for tonight?” - Spinel’s always curious when it comes to the movies they watch, mostly so that she can buy a copy of the movie for herself afterward. 

“Tonight we’re watching a movie that just came out a few days ago!” 

“Oh? What movie is that?” 

“The Camp Pining Hearts Movie: Torn Hearts!” 

Oh… Camp Pining Hearts… out of all the movies it’d had to be that one. Spinel was supportive but she honestly hated Camp Pining Hearts. 

“Great… Can’t wait…” - Spinel said, trying her best to hide her distaste for Peridot’s favorite franchise.

[6:00 pm] 

During the two and a half hour wait, Spinel had been dreading every minute. To Peridot Camp Pining Hearts was everything but to Spinel… it was just so stupid, when she first tried to watch it she had to try so hard to not groan in frustration. However, she didn’t want to ruin her new found friendship with Peridot by revealing how much she hates Camp Pining Hearts. So for the past week or two she’s had to hold in all her frustration towards this boring and stupid show. 

Spinel, who was laying on her small bed, heard a few knocks on her door. Spinel reluctantly got up and walked over to the door, opening it. 

“You ready to head out Spinel?” - Asks Peridot as soon as the door opens 

“Y-yeah. Let’s get going.” - Spinel says in a monotone voice 

Spinel and Peridot walk from Spinel’s apartment complex to a moderately sized building on the other side of Little Homeworld. 

Luckily, during the walk Spinel isn’t squeaking, which is good because she’s already upset enough knowing that she’s about to sit through 90 minutes of Camp Pining Hearts. If she had to listen to the constant squeaking during their walk she’d surely snap. She still doesn’t understand how the squeaking works, is it based on her emotions? She doesn’t know, but she’s glad it isn’t happening right now. 

“Hey, Spinel, are you okay? You seem kinda… tense.” - Peridot says about halfway to the makeshift movie theater 

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just, uh, thinking about something, no worries!” - Spinel is really nervous, she doesn’t know what to say to fool Peridot 

“Oh, okay, sorry I’m just so excited! I’ve read the reviews online and they're all five stars!” - Peridot says still just as excited as earlier 

Thank the stars she didn’t ask what Spinel was thinking about. They’re almost there, just a few more minutes and then all she has to do is stay silent until the end of the movie. 

“Really? Hopefully it’s just as good as you hope!” - Spinel responds a few seconds late 

“I might have the most immaculate taste but I’m sure it’s gonna be great!” 

The two walk the rest of the way in silence, however, instead of walking straight inside, Peridot stops to tell Spinel something. 

“Hey, Spinel, wait just a second.” - Peridot says as she pulls out her phone from her gem 

“Why? What’s going on?” 

“Just wait a second..” - Peridot is messaging someone on her phone, Spinel doesn’t have a phone but she wants one. 

“Seriously, why are we waiting?” - Spinel asks growing impatient

“You’ll see…” - Peridot puts her phone back in her gem and smiles at Spinel 

Spinel doesn’t know what’s going on but she’s getting a little irritated. Peridot was so excited earlier, what's holding her back now?

“Sorry, guys, sneaking out of the house isn’t exactly my specialty.” - Spinel turns around to see where the voice is coming from… it’s Steven… Of course it is, it’s always Steven. 

“Wha?!” - Spinel says out of pure shock, why was Steven here? 

“Steven! You actually made it! But, it’s not like I was doubting your arrival or anything.” - Peridot says jumping in front Spinel

“Yeah, I was starting to think I was never gonna make it. The gems were being extra careful today.” 

“Peridot? What the heck! You said Steven wasn’t coming!” - Spinel pulls peridot aside and questions her 

“Oh, about that… I lied.” 

She lied? Why? 

“You’re not even gonna say ‘hi’? Dang, you really know how to hurt my feelings don’t you Spinel?” - Steven says jokingly 

“Sorry, Spinel, I just thought it’d be a nice surprise.” - Spinel doesn’t understand Peridot sometimes, doesn’t she know by now that Spinel doesn’t like surprises? Especially after that one incident where Peridot and a bunch of other gems threw a surprise housewarming party for Spinel. It didn’t end well, no one got hurt but there was a mess… 

“Peridot invited me, Camp Pining Hearts is kinda our thing.” 

“Yeah… I’m aware…” - Spinel didn’t need this, now she has to hide her true feelings about Camp Pining Hearts from both Peridot AND Steven? There’s no way she can get away with it, Steven almost certainly will be able to see through her facade. 

“Anyway, we should head inside, I’m actually not supposed to be here. The gems don’t like me leaving the house after dinner.” - Steven says as he heads inside, placing his hands in his Maroon Jacket’s pockets 

Peridot grabs Spinel by the arm, stopping her from going inside 

“You really don’t like Steven, do you?” - Peridot questions 

“No! It’s not that… It’s just… Steven and I just can’t be friends, he keeps trying to be my friend but… I can’t let him do that.” - Spinel looks to her right, avoiding eye contact

Peridot just sighs, deciding not to press Spinel on it anymore. She heads inside with Spinel following close behind. 

Spinel walks into the building, there’s only a few gems here excluding Peridot, Lapis and Bismuth. Right in front of the entrance is a table with a projector on it. There’s a white sheet hung up on the wall in front of the entrance, that’s where the projector’s going to… project. There’s also a popcorn machine and a fruit punch bowl on the left. 

Steven and Peridot walk over to Bismuth and Lapis. 

“Hey, guys, you ready to start the movie?” - Steven says as he walks up to the two 

“Yeah we are! I can’t wait! Have you seen the reviews?” - Lapis says, unusually excited 

“Yes! I have! 5 stars all across the board! Must be a masterpiece.” - Spinel says, jumping in to the conversation and waving her hands around in an attempt to relieve her anxiety. 

Lapis stares sourly while Bismuth just smiles, Steven laughs a little due to how awkward Spinel was just now. 

“Yeah, I bet it is. But there is just one, tiny problem.” - Bismuth says 

Bismuth walks over to the projector, Peridot, Lapis, Steven and Spinel follow. 

“The projector seems to have encountered a fault…” - Bismuth says as she turns on the projector. When she turns it on, the projector immediately begins to smoke. 

“Strange… let me take a look.” - Peridot walks over to the projector and removes a panel, she begins to look inside. After a few seconds she finds the problem. 

“Oh, great… I found the problem but I can’t fix it.” 

“Why not?” - asks Lapis 

“Well, the problem is the wiring that provides power to the projector, one of them came undone but I can’t reach the wire. The space is too small.” 

Steven nudges Spinel 

“I think SHE can help.” 

“I can?” - She immediately remembers her stretch abilities and how she could easily shrink and stretch her hands to reach the wire. She was hoping that the projector being broken would cancel movie night but with Steven calling her out like this, she has no choice but to help. 

“Oh, OH! Yeah, I can totally help! Because that’s what I do! Little miss helpful!” - Spinel says still a little nervous. Lapis immediately seems annoyed towards Spinel moving her hands so much 

“Oh my stars, are you capable of speaking without waving your hands around?” - Spinel stares at lapis, a little annoyed but decides to humor her 

“Yes...” - Spinel moves her hands apart but then claps them together  
“No…” - Steven laughs at this but Lapis groans in annoyance 

Spinel moves over to where Peridot was standing 

“Okay, where’s the wire thingy?” - Spinel asks, leaning down to stare into the projector’s open panel 

“It should be just around that little corner, you should be able to feel which wire is detached.” - Peridot points to a little opening inside the projector. 

Spinel grabs her left hand with her right hand and squeezes it. When she lets go her left hand is smaller, she then reaches inside the opening. 

Spinel uses her now tiny left hand to find the rebellious wire and plugs back into its socket. The wire sparks, sending a shock through Spinel’s left arm. 

“Ahh, Shit!” - Spinel mutters in response

“Hey! Language!” - Steven points at her 

Spinel puts her index and middle finger in her mouth but also stares at Steven in confusion. In fact, Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot stare at Steven as well. 

“Sorry, it just kinda slipped out.” - Steven says, shrugging with an awkward smile 

Spinel moves to the side, Bismuth tries turning the projector on and this time it works. 

“See? Told you Spinel could fix it.” - Steven says, proud of Spinel’s success 

“I didn’t doubt her.” - says Peridot 

“I did.” - says Lapis 

“Okay, guys, let’s not go crazy. Go ahead and get settled, I’m gonna start the movie here in a second.” - Bismuth says, fiddling with the computer connected to the projector 

The group of four walk over to a row of empty chairs and sit down. Spinel sitting on one of the edge chairs, Peridot walks over to the chair next to Spinel. Spinel points to it but Peridot just smiles at her and walks over to a chair that’s two chairs down. Spinel almost immediately realizes what she’s trying to do. 

However, before she could move, Lapis walks up and sits in the chair next to Peridot. Steven then shows up, sitting in the chair that’s in between Spinel and Lapis. Spinel can’t move now or she’d almost certainly hurt Steven’s feelings so she’s stuck sitting right next to him. 

“Hey, Spinel, Do you want any popcorn or a drink? I know gems don’t eat or drink but-” - Steven asks, getting cut off 

“Y-yeah, sure.” - Spinel answers nervously 

Steven gets up and walks over to the table with the popcorn and fruit punch 

Spinel is super nervous, not only because she has to sit next to Steven but also because the movie’s about to start and she’s finding it harder to hide how uninterested she is in this movie. She knows that the second her facade falls, Steven will find out then Peridot and after that they’ll surely hate her. 

Steven returns with the Popcorn and Fruit punch. He hands the thing of Popcorn to Spinel and then sits down. 

“Hey, are you okay? You look uncomfortable.” - Steven asks just after he sits down 

“Yeah, I’m fine… J-just excited is all.” 

“Sure, that’s definitely what excitement looks like.” - Steven leans back in his chair and takes a sip of his drink 

Damn… he really can see right through me, I’m so screwed. 

The movie starts, it really is just your basic romance movie. Soooo boring. Spinel ate all the popcorn in the first ten minutes, the thing keeping her from losing it was gone that quickly. 

She’s watched other romance movies in the past, there are a lot that she actually enjoys. But not this… definitely not this. 

Basically the two main characters fall in love during camp but their parents find out and forbid them to be together. They end up running away together on the last day of camp. 

At about 50 minutes in, Spinel is really struggling, she’s never been so angry at a movie before. Luckily, Steven and Peridot are so into the movie they haven’t noticed. She’s never been so angry at a movie before. 

“H-hey, Steven? I’m gonna go get more popcorn… Do you want another drink?” - Spinel needed something to distract her from her frustration, so she opted to get more popcorn 

“Oh, yeah, here take my cup.” - Steven hands her his cup, Spinel stands up and walks over to the popcorn and fruit punch. 

Spinel forgot her cup so she grabbed another cup and began to fill it with fruit punch. She’s shaking, why is she shaking? Why does a stupid romance movie get her so worked up? Or is she shaking because she knows her friendship with Steven and Peridot are on the line? But she’s not even friends with Steven! 

She begins to fill up Steven’s cup but thanks to how much she’s shaking she drops it and spills the fruit punch all over herself. She leans onto the table in defeat. 

I can’t do this… I just can’t… 

Spinel backs away from the table and walks towards the exit. Bismuth notices. 

“Hey, Spinel, where ya going?” - Spinel ignores her and walks out of the building 

Steven looks behind him and notices Spinel left. He gets up from his chair and starts to follow her. 

“Hey, where are you going Steven?” - Peridot asks as Steven walks away, she gets up and follows. Lapis just decides to stay. 

Steven and Peridot exit the building. They look around for Spinel but find her standing in the ally on the left side of the building. She’s wiping the fruit punch off of herself. 

“Spinel? Why’d you leave? What’s wrong?” - Steven asks walking up to her 

“Yeah! Why would you just walk out on us like that?” - Peridot follows 

Spinel rubs her face with her hands and turns around. She can’t hide it anymore, she’ll have to tell them everything. So, just as she turns around she tenses up, preparing for the worst. 

“I’m sorry! Okay? I’m sorry that I’m such a terrible friend!” - Spinel says, eyes closed 

Steven and Peridot are pretty confused, why is she saying this all of a sudden? 

“Spinel, What do you mean?” - Asks Steven 

“I… I don’t like Camp Pining Hearts! I hate it! I-it’s just so stupid… It makes me so angry for some reason!” - Spinel opens her eyes and begins pulling at her pigtails as she says this

Steven and Peridot look at each other. So that’s why Spinel looked so anxious and uncomfortable this whole time , they both think to themselves. 

“Spinel *Steven rubs his eyes* is this why you looked so upset this whole time?” 

“Yeah… I’m sorry… Please don’t hate me!” - Spinel tenses up even more 

Peridot laughs a little and Steven just shakes his head

“Spinel, why would we hate you? Did you hide your feelings because we thought we’d stop being your friend just because you didn’t like the same show as us?” 

Spinel, who’s still tugging at her pigtails, nods 

“Really? That’s so ridiculous!” - Peridot says 

“Yeah, Spinel you don’t have to like everything we like! If you don’t like Camp Pining Hearts that’s perfectly fine, we aren’t gonna hate you over it.” - Steven says in a comforting tone 

“R-really?” 

“Yes! Me and Peridot only watch it ironically! We technically don’t even like it either. So if it makes you mad that’s perfectly acceptable, because it used to make us mad too.” 

Spinel couldn’t believe it… she was worrying about something that wasn’t a big deal? Not even a tiny problem? Now she really feels stupid. 

“Oh… I’m such an idiot!” - Spinel stops pulling on her pigtails and instead facepalms, she then falls to her knees

“Why am I so stupid?” 

“Hey, it’s okay! I understand, Spinel. Yeah, you were being silly but that doesn’t make you stupid.” - Steven continues to comfort Spinel 

“It really is okay, Spinel. Just, let us know next time you're not having fun!” - says Peridot 

They’re all so nice… I don’t deserve it 

“C’mon, we don’t have to watch the movie.” - Steven reaches his hand out to Spinel, she takes it and stands up 

“How about instead of watching the movie, we all share what we hate about camp pining hearts?” - Peridot says 

“Yeah, that’s a great idea!” - Steven looks at Spinel 

“If that’s what you want to do.” - Stevens says, following his last sentence 

Spinel wipes her tears 

“Y-yeah, that sounds like fun.” - Spinel says with a smile 

Spinel, Steven and Peridot then walk back to Steven’s house, discussing everything about Camp Pining Hearts they hate. 

During the walk, Spinel thinks to herself. She’s really confused, she has all these mixed feelings, she just doesn’t know what to do. 

A part of her wants to be Steven’s friend and hangout with him more like he said. But there’s also a part of her that knows it’s best that her and Steven don’t start hanging out. Steven already has so many problems, yeah, he’s doing better already but… how long will that last? Especially if he starts hanging out with Spinel. 

The 3 have passed the Big Donut, they’ve been talking for awhile now. It was fun, but Spinel isn’t having as much fun as the others. 

The 3 walk up to Steven’s house, Spinel and Peridot wait at the bottom of the stairs while Steven checks the living room for the gems. Luckily, it’s empty. Spinel and Peridot walk up the porch. 

“Okay, it’s clear.” - Steven tells Spinel and Peridot 

Spinel and Peridot walk up to the porch. 

“Well, this was fun, guys, but I should get going to bed before the gems come to check on me.” - Steven says to Spinel and Peridot 

“Yeah, I’m gonna go back and finish that movie.” - says Peridot 

“I’m probably just gonna go back to my place.” - Spinel says, avoiding any eye contact 

Steven and Peridot exchange goodbyes, Peridot then leaves, heading down the stairs. Spinel goes to follow her but Steven grabs her arm, stopping her. 

“Hey, do you mind if you stay for a minute?” - Steven asks, holding her arm gently. 

“W-why?” - Spinel responds nervously 

“I just want to talk for a minute, we don’t even have to go inside.”

Spinel pulls her arm away, and faces Steven. 

“What do you want… to talk about?” - Spinel asks, still avoiding eye contact 

Steven puts his hands in his pockets 

“I can tell you’re avoiding me…” - Steven says this in a somber tone, making Spinel feel immediate guilt 

He can tell? He hasn’t even tried hanging out with her that much, she must suck at hiding it. 

“I understand, I do… But I just want to let you know that Connie isn’t gonna be around for awhile, so… Whenever I’m free we could, ya know, try hanging out but if you really don’t want to then… that’s fine.” - Steven’s really understanding, he’s letting her accomplish the one goal she’s set for herself. So why does accepting the offer seem so hard? 

Spinel looks at Steven's eyes, he’s looking away, just like she was. Ever since Spinel came here, she believed Steven didn’t care about her, why else would he give her away to the diamonds? Why else did he look so annoyed with her when he came to visit? But… ever since she’s ran away, Steven’s been so nice, so understanding. Even with everything he’s going through, he’s still trying to be her friend. If being her friend is what Steven wants then… Could Spinel really be bad for him? If she is bad for him then why would he want to be her friend at all? 

“I don’t understand… Why do you want to be my friend?” - Spinel says, this time, not breaking eye contact. Steven looks at her. 

“I don’t know… I guess because a part of me feels like we could actually get along. That maybe we could... help each other. I’ve done a lot better in the last few weeks but… *sigh* things have still been difficult.” 

What is Steven asking of her? He wants her to help him? Or does he mean that just being his friend is enough? 

“I’ve had a lot of mixed feelings about you, Spinel, but… I feel like I was wrong about you, that I judged you before I got to know you. And, now… I actually want to try and get to know you better. But, if you really don’t want to be friends with me, that’s fine.” - Steven says, looking Spinel in the eyes one last time 

Steven… Spinel just can’t help herself. He’s going out his way to try and understand her, to be her friend. She just can’t help herself anymore. 

“Okay, Steven… Let’s hangout more.” - Spinel says with a smile, still looking him in the eyes 

Steven smiles 

“Really? Alright! We can hangout whenever you want. We could even hang out tomorrow, if you’d like.” 

“Hahaha, slow your roll there Universe. I have plans this weekend, so maybe sometime next week.” - Spinel says with a chuckle 

Steven smiles, again. 

“Okay, okay. Just drop by whenever you want. Or maybe I’ll visit you.” - Steven backs up into his front door, opening it. 

“Yeah, sounds like a plan.” - Spinel says, still smiling. 

Steven walks into his house, never losing his smile. 

Spinel watches him walk upstairs into his room. She then leaves his porch and heads home 

Spinel really hopes she doesn’t regret this. She feels like she made the wrong decision, but seeing Steven that happy made her feel warm and tingly. Maybe she was wrong, maybe being Steven’s friend is what she should have been trying to do this whole time. 

Only time will tell…


	4. Three Makes A Pattern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This story has been cancelled. Please read the sixth chapter first. You can still read this story if you'd like.
> 
> Spinel and Steven have a simple talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has been cancelled. Please read the sixth chapter first. You can still read this story if you'd like.

It’s saturday… Spinel and Steven made plans today to hang out at noon. Spinel, however, is nervous. 

It’s been about a week since movie night and Steven and Spinel weren’t able to hangout until the next weekend due to their equally busy schedules. Today was the day, however, that they were both free to hang out. But Spinel was nervous, she was still worried about hurting Steven in some way or being bad for him… but unless she wants to hurt Steven’s feelings, she can’t bail on him now. 

Spinel sits at her dining table, her head laying on the table, looking up at the clock on her wall. It was approaching noon, if she wanted to make it to his house on time, she had to leave soon. 

C’mon, Spinel, just go already… you promised to hang out, so just hang out once and see how it goes. - Spinel thought to herself 

Despite her nervousness, Spinel finally gets up and leaves her apartment, beginning the walk to Steven’s house. 

It’s bright and sunny, temperature wise it’s not very hot or very cold. But it’s not like it matters, Spinel’s a gem, she can’t get hot or cold. After taking a second to admire the beauty of her new home, Spinel begins to walk through Little Homeworld, passing buildings and gems minding their own business. 

Spinel hadn’t squeaked since movie night, in fact, she didn’t even squeak on movie night. So why did she have to break the streak by suddenly squeaking now? It was so infuriating, why was she like this? Spinel could only wonder… However, she tried her best to ignore it as she continued on her way to Steven’s house. 

On her way she passed the big donut, the idea of buying some donuts for her and Steven was enticing but Spinel suddenly remembered she was flat broke. She doesn’t work a full time job so the money she did have was few and far between. Knowing this, Spinel turned her back to her favorite donut shop and walked onto the beach. 

As she walked on the sand, she stopped squeaking, instead hearing the sound of the sand moving as she made each step. This helped relieve some of her stress and anxiety she was feeling. 

As Spinel got closer and closer to Steven’s house she began to think. 

Am I sure this is the right thing to do? How do I know I’m not gonna hurt him again or burden him? But… Steven wants to be my friend, right? But is what he wants really what's best for him? - Spinel thought as Steven’s house slowly came into view 

Spinel stopped in place, the sound of the sand moving under her feet ceased. Now only the sound of the waves, and the occasional seagull, remained. 

Spinel stared at Steven’s house… it was a nice looking house, Spinel thought. A home befitting to a guy like Steven and his family. Family. Spinel wished she had one… but she knew there’s no family that’d ever take her in. 

As Spinel gazed at Steven’s house, her pigtails began to hang low. She was nervous beyond belief. The last few times her and Steven interacted she did pretty well, but… she was still worried about messing up. Not to mention her doubts about whether or not she should even be his friend. 

Spinel crossed her arms and looked down. Was the reason she did so well before was because she never expected to be his friend? She had a goal and was dead set on accomplishing it… but now, she’s about to try and hang out with Steven as his friend. 

What could go wrong? Just go up there and hang out, being a friend is what I do! Right? - Spinel thought to herself as she began to look back up at Steven’s house

If I want to change… to get better, then I have to try and be Steven’s friend. If it doesn’t work out then… I can just leave and that will be the end of that. - Spinel thought to herself one last time, as she took a deep breath and began to walk up to Steven’s house 

Spinel walks up the stairs leading Steven’s porch. She walks right up to the door and knocks on it. 

Almost immediately Steven opens the door. 

“Spinel! You came! You had me worried for a second.” - Steven says with a warm smile 

Steven’s seemingly genuine excitement that Spinel actually came to hang out made Spinel blush a little. Which is, luckily, hard to notice since her entire body is various shades of red. 

“Of course I came, w-what made ya think I wouldn’t?” 

“It’s just, you're about ten minutes late, but don’t worry about it, you had a long walk so I won’t hold it against you.” 

That’s good, spinel thought, I know I left a little late but I never would’ve known I was ten minutes late. Afterall, I didn’t bring a watch with me. 

“W-well, I’m here now! So, what are we gonna do?” 

“Doesn’t matter, but I thought we could maybe eat something first since it’s about lunch time.” - Steven said as he moved out of the way, allowing Spinel to walk in 

Spinel walked into his house, Steven closed the door behind her. 

“Yeah, of course, what is it you want to eat?” 

Steven walked over to the kitchen, Spinel followed 

“Well, the gems don’t really like me leaving the house when they aren’t here so I thought I’d just eat something I have here.” - Steven said as he began to open a few cabinets to look for something to make 

“That’s understandable.” - Spinel said as she observed 

As Steven looked through the kitchen Spinel noticed a small box with a mug that contained a brown liquid in it. 

“Hey, what’s that?” - Spinel asked as she pointed at said box 

Steven, who was bent over looking at the lower half of the same cabinet, hit his head on a higher shelf as he moved to look at what Spinel was pointing at. 

“Oh my stars, are you okay?” - Spinel asked as Steven rubbed the back of his head 

“Hahaha, yeah, it’s no big deal, it really didn’t even hurt. What is it you were asking about?” 

Spinel looked back at the box and pointed 

“Oh, that’s a box of hot chocolate. Well, the stuff you need to make hot chocolate, that is.” - Steven then turned to look at Spinel 

“Do you want some?” - Steven asked 

Spinel had heard of chocolate before and had even tried some. She honestly had mixed feelings about the treat but, this is apparently some liquid version. So why not give it a try. 

“Sure, I’ve never had hot chocolate before.” - Spinel said as she shrugged 

Steven then stood on his tip toes and grabbed the box of hot chocolate ingredients. He then sat it on the kitchen counter. After that, he closed the cabinet and then opened another cabinet full of cups. Steven grabbed two white mugs out of the cabinet and placed them next to the box. 

“By the way, if you want to make hot chocolate in the future it’s real simple. Just watch what I do and then I’m sure you’ll know what to do next time.” - Steven walked over to the fridge and opened it. He grabbed a carton of milk and placed it on the kitchen counter. 

Steven opened the milk carton and poured milk into one of the mugs. He then put the mug into the microwave and input the time, 1:30 and started the microwave. 

“Hot chocolate is usually something you drink when it’s cold out but people still drink it when it’s warm out sometimes. Plus, the temperature shouldn’t be a problem for you since you're a gem.” - Steven said as he stood next to Spinel, waiting for the microwave to finish heating the milk. 

As Spinel waited, she soon realized how close her and Steven were. She then inched away from him a little. Steven didn’t seem to notice. Then, the microwave beeped, signalling that the microwave is done heating up the milk. 

Steven opened the microwave and placed the now warm milk onto the counter. He then grabbed a packet from the box and opened it. Then, he poured the contents of the packet into the milk. Spinel assumed the powder that poured out of the packet was chocolate powder. 

Steven grabbed a spoon from a nearby drawer and began to stir the milk. As he stirred, the milk began to turn brown, just like on the box. After about two minutes of stirring Steven stopped, he tapped the mug with the spoon. 

“That one’s yours.” - Steven said as he placed the spoon down and grabbed the milk carton again, pouring milk into the other mug. 

Spinel picks up the mug and holds it in both hands. She sniffs the warm liquid. It smells really good, Spinel can’t help herself but take a drink right then and there. 

As she chugs the liquid she begins to feel her mouth get warmer and warmer. The liquid is hot… really hot… really really REALLY HOT 

Spinel spits out the liquid, holding the cup in her right hand and holding her left hand up to her mouth. Steven just laughs as Spinel stands there with the smoldering liquid dripping through her fingers. 

“Is hot…” - Spinel says, moving her drenched hand away from her mouth 

“Y-yeah, it is called HOT chocolate.” - Steven says backing away from the mess Spinel just made 

“Are you supposed to drink it this hot?” 

“No… No, usually you're supposed to let it cool but you kinda… kinda just chugged it right away.” 

Spinel just sighs as she waves her left hand around in an attempt to remove the liquid from her hand. Spinel just… hates herself so much. 

“Spinel, are you okay?” 

“No, not even a little bit.” - Spinel says as she places the cup onto the counter and looks at the mess she just made 

“It’s fine, honestly, Amethyst makes bigger messes. This’ll be really easy to clean up with some paper towels.” 

Spinel grabs some paper towels and wipes both her face and her hand. Meanwhile, Steven grabs some paper towels and goes to clean up the mess. However, Spinel grabs Steven’s arm and stops him. 

“No, d-don’t, I’ll clean it up.” 

“No, Spinel, you really don’t need to. But if you really want to, you could grab some paper towels and help me clean it up.” - Spinel lets go of Steven’s arm. He really is too nice to her. 

She decides to follow his advice and takes some paper towels and cleans the puddles Steven didn’t clean up. After the mess is cleaned, they throw away the paper towels. 

“Alright, see? Easy. By the way, the drink should be cool by now.” - Steven says, sticking his cup of milk into the microwave. 

Spinel picks up the cup she previously took a drink from, she stuck her finger into the cup, it was indeed colder than before.

She took a drink, it wasn’t cold but it wasn’t boiling hot either. It was just right. She loved it, not super sweet like the sodas she tried in the past or super bland like water. Not to mention she loved how it made her feel warm and cozy. 

“So, do you like it?” - Steven asked, he had started making a sandwich, just like the one he made when she first ran away. 

“Nope, I LOVE IT!” - Spinel says, stars in her eyes, she takes another sip 

“Not too bad when it’s not burning your mouth, am I right?” - Steven says smiling 

“Yeah, I guess I was just excited.”

Spinel watches Steven make his sandwich, he’s only adding vegetables

“What are you making? A sandwich?” - Spinel asks, she now knew what sandwiches were but the ones she’s had always were made with meat 

“Yep, a veggie sandwich.” 

A veggie sandwich? It didn’t sound very good. 

“Why? Do you want one?” - Steven asks 

“No thanks, the hot chocolate’s enough.” 

“Oh, okay. Hey, could you grab my cup of milk out of the microwave?” - Steven says as the microwave beeps

Spinel grabs the cup out of the microwave and puts it on the counter, Steven also finishes his sandwich at the same time. 

“Okay, well I put the supplies away, why don’t you stir the chocolate powder into the milk?” - Steven says as he grabs the bread and goes to put it away. 

Spinel grabs a packet out of the box and opens it, she pours the powder into the milk. She grabs the spoon Steven used and begins mixing the powder and the milk 

Steven finishes putting the sandwich supplies away and waits for Spinel to finish mixing. Spinel finishes mixing after a while and hands the mug to Steven. 

“Thank you, Spinel.” - Steven says as he takes the mug 

You don’t need to thank me, you asked me to do it - Spinel thought 

Steven sits down on the dining table and Spinel sits directly across from him

Spinel sits and drinks her hot chocolate, Steven sits and eats his sandwich and occasionally drinks his hot chocolate. They sit like this for about a minute, Spinel watches as Steven looks at his phone while he eats, she soon notices he’s only wearing his usual black shirt. 

Was he not wearing his jacket this whole time and I just failed to notice? - Spinel thinks to herself 

Spinel decides to use this new piece of info to strike up a conversation. 

“Hey, Steven, why aren’t you wearing your jacket today?” - Spinel asks before sipping her hot chocolate 

Steven looks up from his phone and then down at his shirt. 

“Oh, well, you might not believe this but I don’t like my red jacket as much as my pink one.” - it’s maroon, Spinel thinks to herself 

“Don’t get me wrong, I like it but my pink jacket was way more comfortable.” 

“If you liked it so much then why’d you give it to Sword Girl?” 

“Well… you see, it was kinda tricky to come up with a gift for Connie on such short notice so giving her my jacket was all I could think of. I kinda thought that giving up something I like so much would show her how much I care about, which y’know, was the point of the apology.” 

That makes sense, but I kinda hope he gets his jacket back if he liked it that much. Maybe I could get him a new jacket if Sword Girl doesn’t give him his old one back… - Spinel thought 

“But, yeah, that jacket was really comfy, which I guess makes sense. It wasn’t exactly made out of what most human clothes are made of.” 

“Whadda mean?” - Spinel asks 

“Well, it IS made out of typically Earth material but it’s made differently, I guess. It changes size as I change size so like, if I grow bigger it grows too and if I shrink it shrinks with me.” 

“Really? That’s cool. Kinda sounds like most Homeworld ‘clothes’, y’know, the ones that are made out of light.” 

“Yeah, it isn’t made out of light, I know that much. Come to think of it… I don’t actually know how it was made. It was made before I was born, afterall.” 

Made before he was born? Spinel knows he’s, what, 17? So like, he was born in the early 21st century, right? So, that’s an old jacket. Not as old as most gems or gem items but still, old for humans. 

“If it was made before you were born, then why are you wearing such an old jacket?” 

“Because it was made for me by my Mom. It kinda acted as her last gift for me, I guess.” 

“A gift from your Mom? Pink diamond?” 

“Well, we call her Rose Quartz now, but yeah. She stored it in some old chest I couldn’t open till recently.” 

Oh yeah, Pink diamond’s secret identity, Spinel forgot about that. 

“Ah, cool. Do you think Sword Girl will give it back?” 

“Maybe, I don’t know for sure though.” 

It was a gift from his Mom, Pink diamond or Rose Quartz, not just that it was the last gift from her. And he just gave it up that willingly? He must really love Connie… For a moment, Spinel wondered what it would be like to have someone love her as much as Steven loves Connie… but she knows that’ll never happen, so she stopped that train of thought. 

Steven then ate the last bit of the first half of his sandwich. All that remains now is the second half. 

Spinel took another sip of her drink, thinking about what they could do next. Or what they could talk about next. She then thinks of a random question. 

“Why don’t you wear that blue shirt anymore?” - Spinel says out of the blue 

Steven looks at her, a little confused. 

“Why are you asking? Are we suddenly playing twenty questions?” 

“We could if you want!” 

Steven smiles a bit at her enthusiasm 

“Okay then, let’s play a quick game of twenty questions. Let’s see… you have 13 questions left. Let me answer your most recent one.” 

13? She asked 7 questions already? She hadn’t noticed. 

“I don’t really know why, I just kinda stopped wearing it one day and haven't since.” 

“Bummer, I like that shirt better.” - Steven smiled and chuckled a little, visibly taken aback by Spinel’s sudden declaration 

“Okay, what’s your next question?” 

Spinel thought for a moment, taking another sip of her drink. She’s already out of questions. What’s something that she can ask that doesn’t sound stupid? Oh, that… 

“How’s therapy?” - Spinel asked nonchalantly, she kinda wonders if she should do therapy herself but a part of her believes that she doesn’t need to. 

Steven suddenly looked horrified, like she asked something she shouldn’t have. 

“Oh… um, it’s fine, it’s going fine… Next question, please.” - Steven threw this response out there, it was honestly kinda worrying how desperate he was to get away from this topic. 

Spinel, being the absolute idiot she is, decides to move on without pressing Steven on the topic. 

“Ah, um, okay then…” - Spinel begins to think… She has 12 questions left.

...she can’t think of anything. She honestly doesn’t know what to ask, she doesn’t want to sound stupid or get too personal, but with that in mind she can’t think of anything. But why? 

“I’m sorry, Steven, but I can’t think of anything for some reason…” - Spinel finally admits after about thirty seconds of silence 

“Oh, that’s fine, I’ll just start asking questions then. Whenever you're ready, you start asking questions again.” - Steven said, his warm smile returning 

Steven sat there for a second, looking at Spinel. She noticed that he was looking at her up and down until he suddenly realized how weird that was and looked away. 

“Okay, this might be a weird question but… Are you really the only Spinel on Homeworld?” 

Spinel didn’t like this question. She didn’t like talking about herself, but she didn’t want to disappoint Steven so… she kinda had to, plus she already opened up to him about how lonely it was on homeworld, so it would be rude not to go more in depth. 

After removing the slightly uncomfortable expression from her face and taking a second to think, Spinel answered. 

“Well… yes, the diamonds called me ‘one of pinks lost treasures’ because I’m a rarity. A Spinel can’t be made without Pink Diamond’s essence and since Pink Diamond ‘died’ before they could make more, I’m the only one. But, even if they could make more, they wouldn’t have.” 

Steven was taken aback by Spinel’s sudden serious and kinda somber demeanor. But he was also curious, what did she mean ‘they wouldn’t have?’ 

“Spinel… you must have been lonely, having no other gem on homeworld that’s like you.. But what do you mean they wouldn’t have made more?” 

“Steven don’t be sorry, I already told you how lonely it was… but even if there were more Spinels I highly doubt I’d actually enjoy their company… But to answer your second question, Homeworld has no use for Spinels.” 

Steven looked a little confused by this 

“Homeworld used to be very purpose based, right? It was just one large hierarchy that all depended on what your purpose was. Every gem had a purpose in the giant machine that was Homeworld. However, a Spinel has none…” - Spinel’s voice suddenly went more monotone at the end 

“I’m just a simple court jester, a clown… a fool. Homeworld, prior to era 3, had no reason for entertainment, there was no ‘fun’... it was all business. So why would an empire that only cared about business and that was so anti-fun want a bunch of childish, immature, stupid, clumsy, and annoying gems like me running around? The answer is: they wouldn’t. They only created me to appease the obviously defective Pink Diamond, the only gem and Diamond for that matter, that was extremely fun loving, clumsy and childish.” - Spinel said all this in a monotone voice that Steven never thought he’d hear from Spinel… not since her attack that is. 

“That’s why they wouldn’t make more Spinels even if they could. I’m one-of-a-kind, on multiple levels, too. I’m a perfect cut… but I’m also the only Spinel that Homeworld would EVER produce. Does that answer your question?” 

Steven was a little shocked by this sudden change in personality… but this seems to be a sore topic for her so he can’t blame her. He nodded. 

“Oh… I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t mean to ramble on like that… R-really, I’m sorry.” - Spinel suddenly reverted back to her usual. She wasn’t lying, though, she really didn’t mean to get carried away. 

“It’s fine… Let me think of another question.” - Steven decided it’s best not to press her anymore about such a topic, but there was one thing that Spinel said earlier that he couldn’t get off of his mind. ‘Even if there were more Spinels I highly doubt I’d actually enjoy their company’, it shouldn’t have bothered him so much but it did. Steven wants to ask her about it but… he should wait. 

“Okay, um, the other day, when we were talking about Camp Pining Hearts. You never mentioned what you hated most about the show, you just kinda added on to what we said. I know, I know, this is stupid but I am a little curious. What makes you hate that show so much?” - Steven shot out a random question

“Oh, well, it’s simple… Camp Pining Hearts is so poorly written, it’s predictable beyond belief and all the characters are so childish. The jokes are on a whole new level of childish and there are so many inconsistencies that even I can’t ignore them!” - Spinel said easily, she just really hates that show 

“That’s an understandable reason, still a little weird you didn’t say that on friday during our talk but, it doesn’t matter.” - Steven immediately began to think of another question 

“How’s Little Homeschool going? Found any hobbies you enjoy yet?” 

“Hmmm, you asked two questions but I’m a humble gem, I’ll count it as one. Anyhoo, I like it a lot. Most of the topics are easy peasy, even math! And I help other gems quite often, unlike homeworld there’s always someone who I can help and they almost always accept it too! It’s nice feeling useful, y’know? However, I haven’t found a hobby I like yet… cooking is kinda fun but it’s a little complicated I feel. Meep-morps is complicated too and not to mention it takes forever just to finish one project! Gardening’s easy but it’s so boring. I almost wonder if maybe I’m just not capable of doing any of these hobbies…” 

“Hey, don’t say that! I’m sure there’s something out there you’ll love doing! You just have to keep looking!” - Steven’s always quick to help reassure people, isn’t he? 

“Yeah, I hope so… anyway, do you have any more questions?” - Spinel took one last sip of her hot chocolate 

Steven was tempted to ask her but he knew he should at least ask one last thing… but what? 

“Here’s one more stupid question, but your pigtails… do they come undone or are they like that permanently?” 

“Why, do you not like them?” 

“No, I’m just curious. I never said I didn’t like them. Why, does it matter?” 

“No… Do you want the truth?” 

“Yeah, a little bit.” 

“I don’t know… I’ve never tried undoing my pigtails, by the way, that's what they're called?” 

“Yeah…” 

“That’s a weird name…” 

“It is.” 

Steven looks down to the floor, growing impatient. 

Spinel thinks for a bit, she still doesn’t know what to ask Steven. Maybe she should ask about therapy again? He did seem to act kinda weird about it… no, that’s stupid, he’ll probably get upset with her. 

“Hey, Spinel...” 

“Yeah?” 

“I have another question.” 

“Okay, hit me.” - Spinel says teasingly, leaning on the table

Steven swallows, he’s a little nervous he might trigger something in Spinel but, he’s just too curious. 

“Earlier, you said that you wouldn’t like to hang out with other Spinels… why? Wouldn’t it be nice to have gems just like you around? Gems that act like you and think like you, kinda like a family.” 

Spinel just stared at Steven. She doesn’t know if she’s upset he asked why or if she’s upset that he would assume that she would like having to deal with other versions of herself. 

“Steven…” - Spinel says in a sour tone 

“Why do you care? It’s not important, not even a little.” 

“It isn’t? Then just answer me… I’m only curious.” 

“Really? Haha, well then, let me ask you this. Why did you suddenly freak out when I asked you about therapy, Hmm? Is it because you're lying to everyone? Are you not doing as good as you say you are? Did you make a mistake? Are suddenly on the verge of snapping again?” - Spinel says, dawning her crazy eyes that Steven’s all too familiar with, as she leans closer to him 

“It’s not that at all! H-how dare you assume such things! J-just answer the damn question!” - Steven says, getting frustrated

“Why does it matter? I’m allowed to hang out with whoever I WANT! IF I DON’T WANT TO HANG OUT WITH MYSELF THEN I DON’T HAVE TO!” - Spinel says, suddenly yelling at Steven

Steven sits back in his chair, his face showing nothing but fear. Spinel immediately feels guilty.. She shouldn’t assume Steven knows what’s going on inside her head, hell, she doesn’t even know sometimes. What can she do to fix this? Steven’s sure to hate her if she doesn’t find a way… 

Spinel sits back in her chair, with a shocked and guilty expression. She looks down at her hands, she then puts both of her hands onto her hand. She sits her elbows onto the table and continues looking down… 

...What is wrong with me? - Spinel thinks to herself 

After a moment, Spinel finally knows what to do, she has to tell Steven what’s wrong with her. 

“...I just want to change, Steven.” - Spinel’s still looking down 

“What? What do you mean?” - Steven was still recovering from her sudden outburst

“I just want to change, I’m trying to change, just like you said! I don’t want to be this… this childish, annoying gem anymore…” 

Spinel wraps her arms around herself for a moment, she’s not looking at Steven still. 

“I’ve been really confused for the past few months. I would look at my older self and think that they were superior in every way but I also hate them… hate them so much. So I’ve been stuck in the middle of trying to be my old self and trying to be different, and-and I’ve been getting nowhere!” 

“Spinel…” 

“I’m done with it! Okay? I’m done! I just want to change, grow up, mature! But it’s just sooo hard. I’m not gonna let myself go backwards anymore, okay?” - Spinel, still avoiding eye contact, hits her fist lightly on the table and looks at Steven. 

“Spinel, it’s fine… no one said you were childish.” 

“I don’t care! I know what I am, Steven! Whenever I’m not sad, angry and violent… I’m childish, annoying and stupid...But I’m done with all of that!” - Spinel’s beginning to tear up 

“I don’t want to be childish anymore, Steven! I’m tired of being the butt of the joke! I’m tired of being sad and lonely all the time! I’m sick of being angry at the smallest things! I’m just so sick of all of it… I want to change, I’m going to change!” - Steven’s shocked… all of this, this is what Spinel’s been feeling? 

“I want to change, Steven. But I don’t want to go back, ya hear? I’m not gonna go back to be childish, annoying and stupid! Because… because it was that Childish, annoying, stupid Spinel that got fooled by Pink Diamond. It was that Childish, annoying, stupid Spinel that acted on impulse and attacked you. And it was that Childish, annoying, stupid Spinel that trusted the other Diamonds…” - Spinel is full on crying now, she’s no longer looking at Steven and is just staring at the floor 

“I’m TIRED of being the clown…” - Spinel is holding her head in her hands and crying, her tears dripping onto the floor. 

“I… I just want to be better…” 

It’s like looking at a mirror for Steven. He never realised how much him and Spinel had in common. It’s… kinda scary, actually. The mood swings… the temper tantrums… the violence… the fear of abandonment… wanting to change, to be better… they were like two sides of the same coin, or maybe… they’re actually the same side. 

Before Steven could fully register everything he just heard, Spinel was already wiping away her tears. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get carried away like that… I’m sorry for ruining our hang out.” - Spinel said, noticeable holding back more tears. 

Steven hadn’t noticed… but he was crying. Spinel hadn’t noticed either. 

“I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to snap at you… or to spill hot chocolate on your floor… or to ramble like that, I really am sorry…” 

Steven just stared at the downhearted Spinel, after looking at her for a few seconds he finally noticed he had been crying. He wiped away his tears and swallowed. 

“Spinel… I understand… I understand more than you could ever know…” - Spinel looked up at Steven, her pigtails hanging low. 

As he looked into Spinel’s eyes, all he wanted to do was hug her. He had never felt sadder than when he was staring at her like this, especially after everything he learned. 

“I was going through… no, I still am, in a way, going through everything you're going through. I’ve improved but… I know I’m not healed. I know exactly how you feel and… I wish I could do more than say a few comforting words…” 

Spinel felt terrible, she knew she was responsible for Stevens problems… she wishes she could have been there to make up for it. 

“I just want you to know… you aren’t alone, I’m here. I wasn’t your friend before but… I am now and I’ll do my best to support you. If you want to change, I’ll support you every step of the way. Just know that, it won’t be easy… but you already know that don’t you?” - Spinel nods 

“But, you really shouldn’t Steven! You have your own problems to work on! You're not healed, you just said so! Please, I… I don’t want to be another one of your problems.” 

“Spinel… your not a problem! You're my friend! And supporting each other during hard times is what friends do! So please, let me help you!” - Spinel looked into Steven’s eyes

“Okay… but… only if you let me help you too.” - Steven looked into Spinel’s eyes 

“Okay, of course… that’s what friends do, right?” - Spinel nodded 

Spinel never would’ve guessed that friends do this sort of thing. She had lived through so many one sided friendships, she doesn’t know what real friends do. 

Steven smiles a warm, determined smile. Spinel, smiles back. 

“You're sure I didn’t ruin this hangout?” - Spinel asks, her pigtails slowly rising again 

“Absolutely! I’ve never been happier with the end result of a round of 20 questions. I’m glad you said all of that… I’m glad I was able to know more about you.” - For some reason, this comment made Spinel blush lightly

“Hey, it’s still early, how about we start over? And do some real hangout activities!” 

Steven walked over to the side Spinel was sitting at. 

“Like what?” 

“Hmm… Have you ever played a video game?” - Spinel shook her head 

“Okay, c’mon, let me show you then!” - Steven reached his hand out, Spinel took it and stood up. 

The two walked up into Steven’s room. The two then played a variety of videogames and even played one or two board games. It was fun. 

[7:20 pm] 

Steven and Spinel are sitting on the floor across from each other in Steven’s room. They are currently playing a game of Uno. 

“Uno!” - Steven gleefully calls out as he places a card into the pile 

Spinel stares at him, faking an angry expression. She has a lot of cards but she also has a plan.  
Spinel grabs one of her cards and places it, it’s a skip. 

“Skip.” - She calls out, even though she doesn’t have to. Spinel then begins an onslaught that will destroy Steven’s hopes and dreams, forever. 

“Skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip, skip…” - Spinel says as her onslaught begins 

“Reverse, reverse, reverse, reverse, reverse…” - Spinel calls out as her onslaught reaches its final act 

“+2, +2, +2, +2, +4, +4, +4-UNO!.... +4.” - Spinel says as she wins the game, Steven just stares at the pile defeated, Spinel just laughs manically. 

“Spinel… you have got to be the LUCKIEST Uno player ever! Like seriously! What the heck!” - Steven says as he begins to laugh it off. 

Before Steven could continue, Pearl calls Steven from downstairs. 

The crystal gems returned a while ago, much to Steven’s surprise they were perfectly fine with Steven and Spinel hanging out. If Spinel is remembering correctly, they are currently preparing dinner. 

“Coming!” - Steven yells down, he stands up 

“So, is dinner ready?” - Spinel asks, looking up at Steven 

“Sounds like it.” 

“I should probably go, then.” 

“You don’t have to, we’re having spaghetti! Have you ever tried spaghetti?” 

Spinel shakes her head

“You should! It’s really good! In my opinion Pearl makes really good spaghetti.” - Steven says as he backs towards the stairs 

Spinel shrugs and jumps to her feet. 

“Alright, Universe, I’ll try some of this mystical spagett.” 

“Spaghetti.” - Steven corrected, as him and Spinel went downstairs 

Steven walked towards the kitchen with Spinel right behind him. Garnet was sitting on the dining table and Amethyst was sitting on the couch. 

“Hey, guys! Dinner’s ready I presume?” - Steven said with confidence his presumption was correct 

“Correct! Will Spinel be staying for dinner?” - Pearl asked, moving plates to the dining table from the kitchen. 

Spinel slides out from behind Steven. 

“Yep! I’ve never had spaghetti before so I thought now would be the best time to try!” - Spinel says excitedly. 

“Ah, okay… Anyway, did you two have fun today?” - Pearl asks, walking back to the kitchen 

“Yeah, we played a lot of video games, we even managed to finish that one game I was having trouble with... what was it called?” - Steven walked over and sat down in the chair next to garnet 

“Exodus? That was the RPG one, right?” - Spinel walked over and sat in the chair across from Steven 

“Yep, that’s it… that’s the one.” - Pearl dropped a decent amount of spaghetti onto Steven’s plate

Amethyst walked over to the dining table, she went over to Garnet, who promptly stood up and walked over to the couch. Amethyst then sat down in the chair next to Steven. 

“We got the pacifist ending… it was soooo boring!” - Spinel said, leaning back in her chair a little 

“Yeah but it’s the best ending storywise.” 

“Yeah but we didn’t shoot anyone!” 

“Well, duh! I don’t want to kill people!” 

“They’re video game characters! They’re not real!” 

Steven and Spinel’s little quarrel was interrupted by Pearl, who dumped a slightly smaller amount of Spaghetti onto Spinel’s plate. 

“Calm down you two, it’s just a game.” - Pearl said as she then dumped a large amount of spaghetti onto Amethyst’s plate. 

“Hoohoohoo! Trust me, this is calm! If you want to see angry, you shoulda seen Steven when I beat him at Uno!” 

Then, everyone at the dining table looked at Steven. 

“It was so stupid! She beat me like five times!” - Amethyst laughs and pearl just shakes her head

“Listen, there had to have been some foul play involved, like I’ve never won five times in a row.” - Steven says all grouchy 

“Yeah, that’s because you suck, dude!” - Amethyst says out of the blue, she then begins eating her spaghetti 

“Hahaha, he really does, hahahaha.” - Spinel laughs, covering her mouth slightly 

“Oh, c’mon! There’s no skill involved in Uno! It’s all luck! You can’t blame me for having bad luck!” 

“Hmmhmm, Uno’s a crappy game anyway.” - Amethyst says after swallowing a bunch of spaghetti 

“Steven, she said a bad language word!” - Spinel says jokingly while pointing at Amethyst 

“*sigh* Spinel, that was one time… One time! And it was a week ago!” - Steven says smiling, Spinel laughs 

Steven grabs his silverware and begins to eat his spaghetti. Spinel, looks at the spaghetti in confusion. 

It smells good… but how am I supposed to eat it? - Spinel thinks to herself 

Spinel looks at Steven, he’s using his fork to eat it. He stabs into the spaghetti, and spins the fork around, the fork gets covered in spaghetti noodles. He then picks the fork up and puts it in his mouth. 

Spinel picks up her fork and does the same. It was surprisingly easy, why couldn’t she figure out herself? 

Overall the spaghetti tastes really good, a little heavy on the sauce though. 

After a while everyone finishes their spaghetti. 

“Hey, Spinel, how’d you like the spaghetti? Pretty good right?” - Steven asked, cleaning the last of his spaghetti off his plate 

“It was, indeed, pretty good but it had too much sauce.” - Spinel said, twirling her fork on the plate 

“Eh, I like the sauce.” - Steven said 

Spinel looks around, the house is empty. The crystal gems must have gone into their rooms. Steven gets up with his plate and silverware in hand, he grabs Spinel’s plate and walks over to the sink. 

Spinel looks at the house’s clock before getting up. 

[8:00 pm] 

Back in Steven’s room, Spinel sits on the edge of Steven’s bed. He’s currently looking at his phone. 

“Sorry, I was reading a text message.” - Steven says as he looks up from his phone 

“Who was it? Was it Sword Girl?” 

“Well… yeah, but it was just her asking how I was doing.” 

“That’s good… do you think when she gets back you’ll muster enough courage to tell her you love her?” - Spinel asks, tilting her head back 

Steven immediate blushes 

“N-no!... M-maybe… well, she has to know, right? I did propose to her…” - Steven said that last part quietly 

“Yeah but it’ll mean nothing if you don’t tell her!” 

“Maybe you're right… I really should just say it, then that way we could probably start dating.” - Steven says, still a little embarrassed 

Spinel smiles, she’s happy that Steven has found himself in such a loving relationship.... She then stares out the sliding door, the sun is setting. It looks really nice. 

“Hey, Spinel?” - Steven says, breaking Spinel’s focus 

“Y-yeah?” 

“Do you mind if we… talk for a bit, before you head home?” 

“No, not at all!” 

“Cool, can we… Can we do it on the balcony?” - Steven points to the balcony, Spinel was staring at the balcony’s general direction just a second ago. 

“Yeah, sure.” - Spinel stands up 

She walks towards the balcony… and runs straight into the sliding door, falling onto the floor. She rubs her head and looks up at the door, remembering that there was a door that she had somehow forgotten. 

“Spinel… are alright?” - Steven says, looking down at her, while he puts his jacket on 

“Yep… just need to be more careful, haha.” - Spinel stands up 

Spinel opens the door and walks onto the balcony, Steven follows. 

The two stare at the sunset, Spinel sitting on the railing and Steven leaning on it. 

“Spinel… remember when you asked me about therapy?” 

Spinel looked over at Steven

“Yeah… what about it?” 

“I freaked out for a reason… I… I’ll tell you why if… you promise to keep it a secret.” 

Spinel looked at Steven, she didn’t believe it would be that bad, but she agreed. 

“OK… so, basically… I’ve stopped going to therapy.” - Spinel looked back over at Steven, shocked. 

“What? Why? Isn’t therapy good for you?” - Spinel was shocked… she assumed the gems didn’t know or else they’d probably go crazy. At least, that’s what she assumes thanks to everything Steven’s told her.

“Yeah… It’s supposed to be but…” - Steven fiddles with his fingers for a second 

“But it just hasn’t been that good for me I feel… Whenever I go it feels like I’m talking to a brick wall, not a person. A-and sometimes it feels like they judge me! Like with every new thing I tell them they hate me more…” 

Spinel doesn’t know what to say… Spinel knows therapy’s supposed to be good for him but if Steven feels this way then, isn’t him stopping a good thing? Spinel doesn’t know… 

“I know I still have more to work on but going to see this therapist just doesn’t feel like the way… I almost always feel terrible after a visit and… I just feel like I’m making more progress on my recovery whenever I don’t go.” 

Spinel thinks for a moment. As Steven’s friend, she shouldn’t tell anyone about this, right? She promised to keep it a secret so… that’s what she’ll do. 

“I’m not good at this kinda stuff but, I guess if that’s how you feel then… maybe it’s good ya left, but I don’t know for sure.” - Spinel gave the best neutral answer she could come up with 

“Thanks, for saying that… I don’t know either, I’m just kinda going with my gut right now.” 

The two continued looking at the sunset. It was beautiful, there’s never anything like this on Homeworld. 

“Hey, Spinel, I just wanted to say…” - Spinel turned to look at Steven 

“You already seem like you’ve done a decent job at changing… at getting better. I’m proud of you.” 

Spinel smiled at Steven, she didn’t feel that way but coming from Steven it had to be true. 

“I remember you used to be so clingy, but now you're kinda the opposite.” 

“Yeah… if there’s one thing the diamonds taught me… it was independence.” - Spinel said with a smile 

“Really? That’s good.” 

“It is… most of the time they were so busy I couldn’t even enter their rooms. So I had to learn to be independent and I guess it really paid off.” 

Steven thought for a minute 

“But… doesn’t that mean you taught yourself independence?” 

Spinel looked at Steven for a bit 

“Yeah... I guess it does.” - Spinel said in a silly voice 

She turned back to the sunset, admiring the beauty of her new home. Steven smiled at her, if Spinel had noticed, she would surely blush. 

Steven walked Spinel to his front door, he opened the door and let her walk out. Steven then walked out after her. 

“This was fun Steven, I hope we can hang out more.” - Spinel said sincerely 

“Me too, and I’m sure we will.” - Steven said smiling 

“Well… Goodbye, see ya later alligator.” - Spinel said backing away, pointing finger guns at Steven 

As Spinel walked down the stairs, Steven's smile faded. 

“Hey, wait.” - Spinel looked back at him, alarmed by his sudden request

“Yeah, what is it?” - Spinel stopped at the beginning of the stairs 

“It’s just, there’s something I wanted to say to you… I was kinda nervous, so I didn’t… but now I kinda really wanna so…” - Steven walked over to Spinel as he said this. He then sat down on the steps 

“I’m scared, Spinel…” 

Spinel looked down at him, puzzled. Scared? Of what? Spinel sat down next to him. 

“Whaddya mean you're scared?” 

“Of being alone…” 

Spinel knew that feeling

“Why? You have so many friends! You're never gonna be alone, Steven.” 

“You're wrong… The thing is… all my friends and family, they’re… they’re ‘drifting away’...” - Spinel immediately understood. She remembered that song. 

“Everything’s fine now but… I know it won’t last long. Soon, I’ll be all alone and I’ll have to fend for myself. The problem isn’t that I’m not independent, it's just…” - Steven sighed  
“How am I supposed to live by myself in the real world? Without any support? I didn’t go to school like most humans! I have no education, no degree, no diploma… nothing! How am I supposed to go out into the real world and get a job? Am I expected to leech off my dad forever? Live in the temple forever?” 

Spinel was having a hard time following but she was able to kinda understand, human jobs require education and Steven didn’t have that. Therefore, no job… and no job means no money. 

“I don’t want to do that! M-my dad isn’t gonna be around forever! I can’t just use his money all willy nilly! It'll run out eventually and when that happens how am I supposed to survive? Off the bare minimum I get from working at the shittist job in the world because I can’t get a better one because I have absolutely no work experience?” 

Spinel put her arms on Steven’s shoulders, he was spiraling. She knew this all too well, he needed to calm down. 

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay. You’ll figure it out, you still have time! Until then at least you have your friends and family, and plus you’ve got Connie! The love of your life! She can help you!” 

“No! She can’t! She’ll be leaving for college soon and then I won’t have anyone! And once she’s done, I-I can’t just leech off of her! I… I don’t know what to do.” 

Spinel didn’t know either, what is she supposed to say to make it all better? 

“Steven… Y-you're not gonna be alone! Y-your friends aren’t gonna leave ya all alone! They aren’t just gonna d-drift away… because they’re not your friends, they’re your family.” - Spinel knew this was the stupidest, sappiest thing she could have said but it’s all she could think of. 

Steven looked up at her

“I know… I know they won’t leave me… but, things don’t last forever… the future is always uncertain so who knows what’ll happen to me or to the gems in the future? I know they won’t always be there… and that’s what scares me the most. Like, look at Connie for example! She’s already not here, is she? And soon she'll be off to college and she won’t be here for years!” 

Steven looks down… Spinel notices his crying. 

“I’ll be alone… And Connie will find someone else that’ll be way better for her and then…” 

“NO! D-don’t say that! Connie could never find someone better than you!” 

“No… she definitely could, but it doesn’t matter. She isn’t the type to go behind my back like that. It’s just…” - Steven continues crying 

“I know things between us won’t work out… She’s so smart and I’m… I’m not even close!” 

“Steven, your not stupid! Look at me! I’m practically brainless!” 

“Spinel… just stop, okay? I’m fine, I’ll be fine. I just… need you to promise me something.” 

“Y-yeah, anything.” 

“Please, stay with me… No matter what happens, please, never leave me. Never stop being my friend.” 

“Of course, Steven! I’d never do that! I’ll always be your friend! I promise!” 

Steven cries for a minute. 

“I wish I could do something… Anything to help you Steven but, ya have to believe me! Your family isn’t gonna leave ya behind! I know they won’t! They… they aren’t ANYTHING like pink diamond, ya hear?” 

Steven suddenly looks up. He’s no longer crying. 

“Steven?” - Spinel tries to see if Steven’s okay but he doesn’t respond 

Steven wipes his tears, and stands up, Spinel stands up as well. 

“Thanks, Spinel, I don’t know why I was worrying so much… I know everything will be fine… it has to be, I just need to start thinking about getting some sort of schooling and then I’ll be just fine.” 

“Yeah, then every job in the world will hire ya!” 

“Haha, I wish but I’ll at least be able to get a decent paying job. Listen, maybe I’ll take your advice, I’m thinking I’ll tell Connie, that I love her.” 

“Really? You're not scared of her leaving ya anymore?” 

“No, not as much anyway… I just want her to know, y’know? So that when she does go off to college, I’ll know everything’s good between us. Kinda like a comfort thing, ya know?” 

Spinel nods 

“I’m proud of ya Steven, but I really oughta get going.” - Spinel says as she pats steven on the back 

“Yeah, sorry for holding you up. See ya later Spinel.” 

“See ya later, Universe.” - Spinel then begins her journey home, she looks back real quick to see Steven, they exchange one last smile. 

As Spinel leaves the beach, a butterfly lands on her head. She picks it up with her index finger and looks at it for a bit before it flutters away. Spinel smiles, Earth butterflies were way prettier then the ones at the Garden. 

Spinel had felt hope before… but this was different. This time she knew that things were gonna end happily. This hope wasn’t full of uncertainty… This hope was full of certainty and that made Spinel happy. Happier than ever before.


	5. The Little Homeworld Chronicles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This story has been cancelled. Please read the sixth chapter first. You can still read this story if you'd like.
> 
> We take a look at Spinel's life at Little Homeworld over the course of one month.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has been cancelled. Please read the sixth chapter first. You can still read this story if you'd like.

-Spinel Meets Pink Pearl- 

-April 28th, Wednesday Afternoon, A few days after Chapter 4-

  
  


Classes for Little Homeschool just ended and Spinel is helping Bismuth move shipments of materials for her blacksmithing class. Spinel and Bismuth are both carrying six medium sized boxes full of materials. 

Spinel and Bismuth walk up to the forge and drop the boxes right outside of it. 

“Phew, those boxes sure were heavy, glad it’s over.” - Bismuth says as she wipes her forehead even though there’s nothing there 

“But… they weren’t heavy at all.” - Spinel says, Bismuth just stares at Spinel blankly

“I was just trying to be nice but… you must be a lot stronger than I thought! No wonder you're always able to take care of ‘bismuth’ so easily!” 

Spinel laughs and Bismuth follows not long after. When Spinel first came to Little Homeworld her and Bismuth hit it off almost immediately. They both liked making bad jokes and Spinel shared Bismuth’s interest in weapon crafting… albeit for different reasons, of course. 

  
  


“Thanks for the help, Spinny.” - Bismuth says 

“Of course, any time!” - Spinel responds with a smile 

Bismuth walks into her forge and Spinel turns her back to the forge’s entrance. 

It’s another typical sunny day, and like usual Spinel’s gonna spend it…. Indoors.

“Um… Excuse me?” - Spinel heard a soft-spoken voice, she turned to her right and saw the source of said voice 

“Uh, hi?” - Spinel said 

Spinel was looking at a tall, pink pearl with a missing left eye. There were cracks where her left eye would be. 

“Hello! I’m Volleyball! I was hoping to introduce myself to you.” 

“Volleyball? What a… unique name.” - Spinel thought it was stupid but didn’t want to be rude 

“I know, right? Steven picked it out for me, he’s so creative, just like Pink.” 

No, Steven wasn’t anything like Pink and Spinel knew that. For some reason, this Pearl comparing Steven to Pink made Spinel mad. 

“Okay… Did ya used to know Pink or sumthin?” 

“Yeah! I used to be Pink’s pearl.” 

“No, you weren’t. I happen to know Pink’s pearl and you're not her.” - Spinel said in a sarcastic tone, she was serious though. This gem can’t be pink’s pearl. 

“Oh, I see. I was actually replaced because of this~” - Volleyball then points to her missing eye 

“R-replaced? Whaddya mean replaced?” 

“The pearl you know was actually Pink’s second pearl. I was her first. I was actually being controlled by White Diamond for a while.” 

“I-I didn’t know Pink had two pearls…” - Spinel began to walk away from Bismuth’s forge, Volleyball following. 

“And you said you were being controlled by White? Must’ve been rough…” - said Spinel occasionally turning to look at Volleyball 

“No, not really, I don’t remember any of it.” 

“Really?” 

“Yep, I was awake and in the throne room then BLIP all of a sudden I was in white’s ship and there were all these strange gems I didn’t know. It was confusing but thanks to Steven I was able to understand everything that I missed.” 

“Gee, you're lucky, I had to be awake for every second I was alone in the… the garden.” - Spinel still doesn’t like to remember the garden 

“I am aware of what happened to you, it was part of the reason why I wanted to meet you.” 

Spinel stopped outside of her apartment complex, she then turned around to face Volleyball. 

“Oh, one of them? Why is it exactly ya wanted to meet me?” 

“It’s nothing crazy, I just thought it’d be nice to talk with another one of Pink’s old gems!” - Volleyball said this with excitement, however, Spinel wasn’t exactly happy with this reason 

“Not very many gems here knew Pink like I did and the few that did… well, they don’t like talking about her. Don’t get me wrong, I also wanted to meet you because I thought we could get along but… I’d be lying if I said your relationship with Pink had nothing to do with it.” 

Spinel stared at Volleyball, Spinel had been working hard to change. But for some reason Volleyball was getting on her nerves. Maybe it’s because Volleyball is talking about Spinel’s main cause for her trauma so lightly. It was different when Steven did it because she was his mom, plus Spinel knew that Steven and her felt the same way about Pink. 

It wasn’t long until Spinel noticed Volleyball was staring at her. 

“Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something in my teeth?” - Spinel said as she morphed her pinky finger into a toothpick and began picking through her teeth 

“Oh! Oh no! Sorry, I’ve just never seen a gem like you before! You are quite unique looking! Pink always did have a sense of creativity!” - Spinel stopped picking through her teeth and looked at Volleyball. 

Spinel didn’t know if she should take that as a compliment or be insulted. 

“Like your gem, for example, it’s so pretty! I never knew gemstones could come in such unique and detailed styles! And those face marks! I’m not sure what Pink was thinking with those but I’ve seen way worse on some of these uncorrupted gems.” 

Spinel didn’t even register the comment about her gemstone… all she could think about was Volleyball’s comment on Spinel’s tear marks. 

Spinel rubbed her face, following the tear marks with her fingers. Doesn’t Volleyball know that Pink didn’t design Spinel personally? Spinel was a surprise gift from the other diamonds, plus the tear marks where Spinel’s personal choice after Pink had abandoned her. And she was insulting them?... Understandable but so bluntly? Spinel could feel her non-existent blood begin to boil. 

“Oh, excuse me. I didn’t mean to ramble… Hehe, anyways, I was hoping we could be friends. We don’t have to talk about Pink, by the way, we could talk about-” 

“Listen, here you space princess wannabe!” - Spinel yelled at Volleyball, getting in Volley’s face. 

“I know I’m hideous but the fact you have the audacity to come up to me and tell me like I’m unaware of how ugly I am is just…” - Spinel hides her tear marks with both of her hands 

“Is just despicable!” 

“I… I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that-” 

“Wasn’t aware? Wasn’t aware!? How could you of all people be unaware? How would you feel if I came up to you insulting your stupid face? With your stupid, ugly crack? Which, by the way, out of every gem here you have got to be the second ugliest gem I’ve EVER seen! With that stupid crack that I can’t stand looking at, like seriously every second I have to look at you I want to vomit!” - Spinel begins to tower over Volleyball 

“Then there’s that stupid hair! Like, who ever thought hair like that was pretty? IT ISN’T!” 

Spinel, now towering over volleyball, begins to pull on her hair. This act causes Spinel to back down a bit. 

“Well… Excuse me, I was just trying to be your friend. I’m sorry I offended such a sensitive, lowly, gem like yourself. I’m surprised Pink Diamond was ever able to tolerate you. Knowing her she probably-” 

Spinel stops pulling on her hair and shoves Volleyball onto the ground 

“Just shut up already! Like a useless, broken Pearl would know anything about Pink Diamond! And for the record, Volleyball, is a stupid name!”

“Stars, you really are childish. No wonder Pink abandoned you, compared to you Pink was the most mature diamond of them all.” - Volleyball stood up and wiped dirt off of her as she said this. 

Volleyball looked away and put her right hand under her chin. 

“You might’ve been made to replace me but… with all things considered, you’re the one who should’ve been replaced.” - Volleyball turned her head a little to look Spinel in the eyes 

Spinel almost immediately punched Volleyball with her right hand, sending volleyball back onto the ground. 

“For someone who cares SO MUCH about how old and mature she is, you act real juvenile too, y’know.” - Spinel said dawning her crazy eyes once more 

“SPINEL!” - Spinel turned to her left to see Bismuth and Lapis standing there watching the argument transpire 

After seeing them Spinel looked to see Volleyball get up, rubbing the left side of her face. Spinel looked back to Bismuth and Lapis, her eyes turning back to normal. 

“Spinel! What the heck is going on?” - Bismuth asked, trying to piece together what led to this. Lapis was already prepared for a fight 

Spinel looked around to notice all the bystanders, was all of Little Homeworld watching Spinel and Volleyball’s argument? Spinel then noticed Lapis whisper something to Bismuth. 

Spinel closed her eyes and began to pull on her hair again, shaking her head left and right as well. 

After she reopened her eyes, Spinel looked at Bismuth and Lapis one more time. 

“So? What happened? We won’t be mad just tell us!” - Bismuth shouted as Volleyball stood up and began to walk towards the two 

Spinel looked away, deciding to walk away. She entered her apartment complex, pulling her hair as she walked away. 

  
  
  


-Spinel And Steven Power Hour- 

-May 7th, Friday At Noon, A Week After Spinel met Volleyball-

  
  


Spinel is standing on the second floor of her apartment complex, her pigtails hanging low. She’s leaning on the metal railing at the top of the stairs, observing Little Homeworld. 

Today’s a cloudy day, the third one since Spinel came to Earth. The first one being Monday after Movie Night and the second was yesterday. Today, however, there’s expected to be rain. 

Spinel sighed, she’s been isolating herself for the past week since her and Volleyball’s argument. A part of her feels guilty but a part of her feels like Volleyball should apologize. Spinel has skipped all of her classes for the past week and has been avoiding talking with any of her friends, especially Steven. 

Speaking of Steven, Spinel and him had been hanging out every day since their first hang out, Spinel missed hanging out with Steven. However, she was afraid to talk to him about what she did. 

Today was the first day that Spinel had left her apartment, there were very few people outside thanks to the expected rain. In fact, classes were canceled for the day. 

  
  


Spinel began twirling her hair, she doesn’t know what to do. She’s almost certain her reputation in Little Homeworld was ruined and that all of her friends hated her. But she really hoped that wasn’t the case. 

Maybe I should just apologize to Volleyball, that’s the mature thing to do. But she started it! Why can’t SHE apologize? Ugh, maybe if I apologize first then she’ll apologize… If I want to change, then I have to apologize, right? I just have to suck it up and apologize, then maybe everyone will forgive me. - Spinel thought 

As Spinel got lost in thought, it began to rain. It began as a light drizzle but it slowly began to pick up, as it got worse, Spinel lost her train of thought. 

“Woah…” - Spinel looked up at the clouds, and then down at the ground. The path that residents of little homeworld use gets wetter by the minute. Small puddles were already forming. 

Spinel went to reach her hand out and feel the rain for the first time but- 

“Spinel! Spinel!” 

Spinel looked to her left, looking for the source of the sound. 

“Spinel! Hey! Over here!” - Spinel saw Steven running towards her apartment complex, the hood on his maroon jacket was being held up by his hands as he ran. 

Steven? He must be coming to talk to me, right? Of course he is…

Spinel just watched as Steven got closer and closer, however, Steven eventually slipped and fell onto the ground. 

As soon as Spinel saw this, without hesitation, she jumped over the railing and landed on the ground, running over to Steven.

Spinel stopped right in front of Steven, who had already gotten back up. 

“Steven! Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine, thanks for asking, though.” 

“Why are you even out here right now?” - Spinel asked, a little happy, a little confused and a little upset.

“Well, I was coming to talk to you but-” 

Steven stopped talking to let the rain do the talking. By now, the rain had picked up to a steady violent rain. 

“Yeah, it’s raining really hard, now!” - Steven yelled over the rain

“Yeah… it is!” - Spinel held her hands out, feeling the rain for the first time. 

She was so concentrated on Steven she had forgotten it was raining. Spinel looked up at the clouds, closing her eyes, letting the rain wash over her. For some reason, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Hahaha, isn’t the rain amazing!” - Spinel said looking back down at Steven with the widest smile she’s had in the last week

“Huh? Amazing? Wait…” - Steven then had a sudden realization 

“You’ve never seen rain before, right?”

“Nope! Hahaha! It’s so much fun!” - Spinel said as she twirled in the rain, her wet pigtails throwing water onto Steven

“Hey, hahaha, watch it!” - Steven said holding his hoodie with his hands

“Oh, hehehe, Sorry.”

Spinel knew about rain but this really was the first time she had actually seen it. For some reason, this new experience was exciting. Maybe it was the way it felt when each raindrop landed on her body... but who cares, Spinel was just having fun.

There were already several large puddles around the two, as Spinel twirled through the rain she kept missing by an inch. 

“Careful, Spinel, I don’t want to get more soaked!” - Steven said as Spinel continued to enjoy the rain

“Oh, c’mon! You're already drenched! What harm could it be to have a little fun?”

“I could get the flu, for one.”

Spinel ignored Steven and jumped in the puddle next to the two, splashing Steven. 

“Hey! Hahaha.” - Steven said, putting his arms up in defense 

Steven began to smile, maybe it wouldn’t be any harm to splash her back in revenge. 

Steven noticed another large puddle and waited until Spinel moved right in front of it. Just as Spinel spun in front of it, Steven jumped on the puddle, splashing her.

“Hahahaha, oh! Now it’s on!” - Spinel said jokingly

“Come and get me then!” - Steven said, taunting her 

The two began to have a little war between each other, Spinel splashing Steven with whatever puddle she could find, and Steven splashing Spinel with whatever puddle he could find.

In time, their little battle ceased.

They stood in almost the same manner as they did earlier, Steven was catching his breath while Spinel continued to indulge. 

“Wasn’t that fun! It should rain more often!” - Spinel said, putting her hands up towards the sky. At this point, Spinel had forgotten what she was upset about. 

“Haha, it was a little fun…” - Steven said softly

“What was that?” 

“N-nothing!” 

“Hehehehe, I love this planet!” 

“It is pretty great, isn’t it?” 

“It is! I can’t believe I tried to destroy it!” - Steven laughed a little, putting a somber expression, Spinel didn’t notice however. 

“Y-yeah… You really have changed, huh?” - Steven said this with a smile.

Steven and Spinel had already spent a lot of time together. It was strange, really, Spinel came here hoping to avoid Steven as much as possible, but now she’s pretty much done the opposite. 

Steven stared at her, he really was having fun. He didn’t want to admit it at first but this was really fun. This, plus the fun they’ve had when they’ve hung out was the most fun Steven’s had since his breakdown. In fact, it might be the most fun Steven’s had since he started era 3. A part of him really wishes Spinel was around earlier before his breakdown.

Yeah, he still did have trauma from her attack but he’s kinda stopped associating her with said attack. She’s changed so much and they’ve gotten along really well. 

Before Steven could finish his thought, Spinel grabbed his hand and began twirling him around.

“H-Hey! Wait a second!” 

“C’mon! Just have fun for a minute! You don’t have to stress about everything, y’know!”

Steven looked into her eyes, she was right. Even during his recovery he couldn’t help but stress, he really should take her advice.

Steven grabbed her other hand and the two spun around together, occasionally landing in a puddle and splashing each other. 

The two laughed, enjoying the moment. Spinel’s eyes were closed, she really was having a blast. Steven just looked at her, he really hadn’t had this much fun in a long time. He missed fun like this, Spinel was so fun in so many different ways. He’s glad to have her around now. 

As the two continued spinning, Steven continued to admire Spinel. Steven was glad Spinel’s eyes were closed, or she would have noticed how hard he was blushing. 

However, with time, Steven’s eyes closed too. The two continued to laugh, however, the rain slowly but surely began to slow down. 

But the two didn’t notice, they just kept having fun. Until Steven began to notice a strange light. 

He opened his eyes and noticed that Spinel’s gem was glowing… and so was his. He immediately let go of her hands. 

  
  


Spinel twirled for a bit but eventually caught her balance and stood in place, facing Steven. Before she opened her eyes, both her and Steven’s gem had stopped glowing.

“Hahahaha, that was awesome. We should do it again!” - Spinel said, looking at Steven with a big smile 

Steven was hesitant to reply but eventually regained his resolve and spoke. 

“Y-yeah, it was a lot of fun. I haven’t played in the rain since I was like, six.” 

Six?... oh… oh no - Spinel thought 

“Wait… six? Oh… that’s… I’m s-sorry, I…” 

“Hey, what’s wrong? What do you mean ‘sorry?’” - Steven was confused, did he say something wrong? Wait… six… oh, now he gets it 

“We should head inside… c-c’mon, let’s go to my apartment.” - Spinel, who had lost her spark, motioned for Steven to follow her

Spinel walked into her apartment complex and went up the stairs. Steven followed close behind, the two got to the second floor and Spinel opened the door to the left of the stairs. They then walked into the apartment.

  
  


Spinel’s apartment was dark, she had the lights off, the little light that was in Spinel’s apartment was from the windows. The windows, however, were shut, plus it was cloudy so the little light that managed to seep through wasn’t much help. 

As soon as Spinel and Steven walked in and the door was closed, the lights in the apartments turned on. 

“S-sorry, I don’t usually have it that dark. I must’ve forgot to turn the lights on.” - Spinel said as she walked past Steven.

Steven examined Spinel’s apartment, he didn’t get to look at it too well the last time he was here. Spinel’s apartment was small, not too small but small. It was colored with similar colors to that of Steven’s house despite the fact the apartment was not made from wood. 

“Hey, follow me, I might have a towel that we can use in my room.” - Spinel walked through the main room and through a small corridor to a room on the right, Steven was following. They tracked water everywhere 

Steven and Spinel entered Spinel’s room, it was also small, but it was big enough to hold two people.

Spinel grabbed a brown towel off a dresser and handed it to Steven. 

“Here, this should work, right?” 

“Yeah, do you mind if I take off my jacket?” 

“No, just lay on the dresser, don’t want my bed to be soaking wet.” 

Steven unzipped his maroon jacket and placed it on the dresser. He began to dry off his hair with the towel.

Spinel stood there, dripping wet, her hair was so wet it had no choice but to hang low. Her hair was also noticeably darker since it was wet. 

“So, Spinel… do you sleep often?” - Steven said as he finished drying off his hair 

“Yeah, I do. I don’t really like night time since it’s dark and lonely so I like sleeping through it.” 

“Do you still have those nightmares?” 

“Sometimes, but I usually go right back to sleep, haha.”

“Good…” - Steven finished off drying, his clothes were still damp but much more manageable 

Steven handed Spinel the towel, she then dropped on the floor beneath her and began drying her hair. She grabbed each pigtail and twisted them, causing the water to seep out of them, falling onto the towel below her. She then used the remaining dry parts of the towel to dry the rest of her off. 

Spinel then threw the towel over the dresser… Over the dresser’s mirror to be exact. In fact, the towel was covering the mirror before Spinel handed Steven the towel, which is why he didn’t notice it at first.

Spinel led Steven out of her room and into the living room. 

It was still raining, Spinel could hear it. What should they do now?

  
  


“Hey, Steven?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I… I’m sorry for earlier. I didn’t mean to act so childish. I just got so excited… I didn’t even think that playing in the rain was childish.” 

Of course it would be, it’s obvious! - Spinel thought to herself 

“I didn’t mean to be so annoying, I hope I didn't upset you or anything…” 

Spinel was avoiding eye contact. She was trying so hard to change, but she struggled sometimes.  
  


“Spinel, you don’t have to apologize. I actually had a lot of fun, it wasn’t annoying at all. I’m glad you’re changing to be more mature but you can still have fun, you know. Even if that thing you’re having fun doing can be seen as childish, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. A lot of really mature adults still do childish things because it makes them happy.” 

“Really? So, us playing in the rain wasn’t wrong? I-I’m not taking steps backward?” 

“No, not at all. You still seemed like your new self to me! I’m actually really happy we did that, Spinel. I hadn’t done anything that fun in awhile… so, I should probably thank you.” 

“T-Thank me?” 

Spinel was shocked, she was making a big deal out of something that wasn’t a big deal again, wasn’t she? 

“Well, I guess not THANK you but… I just want you to know that I really enjoyed doing that with you. It’s always fun hanging out with you, even if we just talk… you manage to make it fun no matter what… I like that.” 

Spinel’s face grew redder with every word. Luckily, Steven didn’t seem to notice. Unless he did… in which case, was it making him happy? Nah, Steven definitely didn’t notice, he’s not even looking at Spinel. Phew… Spinel wouldn’t have known how to swing that. 

Spinel was happy… really happy. She never wanted to be Steven’s friend… Well, not never but, she didn’t want to be his friend when she first moved to little homeworld. But now that she is his friend, she’s overjoyed. She couldn’t be happier. 

But that joy didn’t last, Spinel soon remembered what Steven came here to talk about. 

“Steven… y’know I used to think that you were only trying to be my friend to use me. Like we, I turned off the injector. I know that I was wrong to assume that but… I want you to know, I’m not trying to be your friend to use you.” - Spinel reluctantly made eye contact with Steven. 

“I know, Spinel. Why would I ever think that? Did I give you the wrong impression or something? Did I say something to make you think I’m using you or that I might believe-” 

“No, Steven. I just… I don’t want to hurt you Steven. I really didn’t want to be your friend, like I was really trying not to be. But for some reason I kept coming back to you and you kept coming back to me. I’m really happy with our friendship, it’s just… I did something bad, I just want you to know I didn’t do it on purpose, okay? I’m not lying to you or tricking you, I… I Don’t know what came over me.”

Steven knew what Spinel was talking about, he actually kinda forgot about it. He was having so much fun that he just forgot why he came to see Spinel. But now, of course, he remembers. 

Spinel had been isolating and no one else was trying to go speak to her, so he thought that he’d take advantage of his freetime today to drop by Little homeworld and have a talk like they usually do. 

“You're talking about that fight, right?” - Steven inquired 

Spinel nodded, avoiding eye contact. 

“Spinel, it’s okay, I never once thought you were using me… I just want to know, why did you hit Volleyball? What happened that caused you to act out like that?” 

Spinel, still avoiding eye contact, rubbed her tear marks with her right hand. 

“Spinel, you can tell me. If you don’t things won’t go back to normal. It isn’t okay to keep things bottled up, I should know.” 

Spinel finally looks at Steven, anger forming in her eyes. 

“She thinks she’s better than me!” - Spinel finally shouts out 

Steven backs away, a little surprised by Spinel’s sudden change in tone. 

“She thinks… She thinks she knew Pink Diamond better than me. She…” - Spinel grabs her pigtails 

  
“She insulted me, Steven! Right to my face!” - Spinel’s pulling on her pigtails now 

“She did? W-Why?” 

“I don’t know! How am I supposed to know?” 

Steven looks away, he’s still a little confused. He doesn’t know Volleyball that well but she doesn’t seem the type to openly insult people. But… Spinel isn’t a liar, either. 

“I know I’m ugly but… Why would she just say that to me!” 

“Wait! Ugly? S-She called you ugly?” 

“Yes! She insulted these!~” - Spinel points to her tear marks

“These stupid, stupid marks! I wish I could just get rid of them! B-but no matter how hard I try they won’t come off!” 

Steven looks at Spinel, she’s trying to scratch the tear marks off her face. Of course nothing’s happening, both because she’s wearing gloves and because the marks are a part of body. She has to reform to remove them. Unless, they’re permanent, like Volleyball’s crack. But they’re probably not anything like Volleyball’s crack. 

“Spinel, calm down!” - Spinel stops scratching at her face and looks at Steven 

“It’s fine, okay? Everything’s fine!” 

“Shut up! I know everything’s fine! You don’t have to tell me!” 

“Okay! Okay! I don’t know why Volleyball said that but you're not ugly.” - Steven says being supportive 

“You’re a unique looking gem but that doesn’t mean your ugly! I, um… actually think you’re kinda pretty…” - Steven grew quite embarrassed as he said this but he didn’t care, Spinel was hurt by Volleyball’s words and he wanted to be a supportive friend. 

Spinel’s face was redder than ever. She could feel her non-existent heart thump as soon as she heard Steven’s compliment. She covered her gem in response to the feeling, she also looked away so Steven didn’t notice her blushing. 

“A-and the tear marks, I know what they’re supposed to symbolize but I think they're kinda cool. They definitely don’t make you ugly and I think most people would agree with me on that.” 

Steven looked at Spinel, he was embarrassed beyond belief but he seems to have helped cheer Spinel up. 

“Aw shucks, Steven… ain’t nobody ever say that to me before, haha.” - Spinel says still looking away 

“Well, um, don’t get the wrong idea or anything… You’re my friend and I’m trying to be honest, you know? I don’t want anyone to go around calling my friends ugly! Especially when they're far from it, haha.” 

Spinel finally looks back at Steven, her hand still covering her gem. Her ‘heart’ was still racing but Spinel was ignoring it. 

Get the wrong idea? He’s my friend, right? What’s there to get wrong? 

“Thanks, Steven. That means a lot… I just don’t know what I should do, should I apologize? I-I didn’t want to hit her but… she started it.” 

“Well, if that’s true then she should apologize too but it would be the mature thing for you to apologize first.” 

“Mature thing… yeah, you’re right. Well, I should probably go find her… I’d like to get this over with.” - Spinel says, Steven nodding in agreement. 

  
  
  


-Semi-Mutual Apologies- 

-May 7th, Friday evening, Hours after Steven and Spinel’s talk-

  
  


It was currently 7:40, the sun was beginning to set. Spinel had been preparing her apology to Volleyball, it took some time for them to actually locate her but, eventually, they did. 

Volleyball was currently in the center of Little Homeworld, talking with some gem friends. Spinel had been watching from a distance, trying to build up the courage to speak to her. Spinel asked Steven to leave her alone to apologize by herself. She was now regretting that decision. 

Finally, Volleyball’s friends left her alone, this was the moment. 

Spinel took a deep breath and walked up to Volleyball. Volleyball noticed her almost immediately. 

“H-hey, Volleyball.” - Spinel said, walking up to her 

Volleyball just crossed her arms and turned her back to Spinel 

“What do you want, cry baby?” - Volleyball scoffed 

Spinel really wanted to chew her out just for that, but Spinel wanted to be the mature one for once. 

“I, uh, came to apologize for, um, hitting you the other day. A-and insulting you.” 

Volleyball turned to face Spinel slightly, a little surprised Spinel actually came to apologize. Volleyball assumed the worst from Spinel, so this moment of maturity was a shocker. 

“I didn’t mean to lose my cool… I’m still, uh, going through some issues, haha. I just really didn’t like it when you insulted my tear marks, they’re a… um… sensitive topic.” 

Spinel was anxious but despite that she was doing pretty good. But she still managed to forget what to call her tear marks for a second. 

Volleyball turned around fully, arms still crossed. 

“Hmph, you're actually apologizing? I didn’t expect that from such a childish gem.” 

Spinel was starting to lose her patient. Was Volleyball really going to be an asshole during Spinel’s apology? 

“Maybe you're not as childish as I thought… I accept your apology.” - Volleyball said after a moment of hesitation 

Oh… okay, that’s a quick turn around. - Spinel thought 

“I should probably apologize too. I didn’t mean to be so insensitive, I should’ve figured your tear marks were a sore topic… Considering~” - Volleyball began to rub her crack slightly 

“So, I’m sorry for insulting you… by accident.” - Volleyball was trying to avoid responsibility by calling her insensitivity an ‘accident’

“By accident? Really? You couldn’t even try to take full responsibility?” - Spinel said with annoyance. 

“Oh, alright, it was on purpose. I’m sorry!” 

Spinel crossed her arms and exhaled. 

“Fine… I accept your apology… I still don’t like you though.” 

“Yeah, I don’t like you either.” 

The two looked away at each other for a second. Eventually they looked at each other one last time. 

“Thanks for apologizing though… I should get going.” - Volleyball said, walking past Spinel. 

Spinel turned around to look at her as she left. 

“Yeah, well, have a great rest of your day! Punk!” - Spinel said in a passive aggressive tone, as she too, began walking away. 

  
  


Spinel met with Steven after her apology. The two were currently walking over to the Big Donut. 

“I’m glad it went well but you really still don’t like her?” - Steven asked

“Nope, I hope I don’t have any classes with her in the future.” 

They were walking into the Big Donut, it was late so the place was empty, except for the cashier. 

“You won’t, I’m pretty sure she’s graduating at the end of this month. Then after that I don’t know where she’ll be heading.” - Steven said as him and Spinel walked up to the counter

“I hope she doesn’t stay in little homeworld. Just having to see her will annoy me.” 

“Hahaha, okay, I understand that feeling.” - Steven turned to face the obviously tired and impatient cashier. 

“Hello, what kinda donuts you want?” - said the cashier 

“Um, could we get three chocolate glazed donuts and three glazed donuts, please?” - Steven said to the cashier 

“Of course…” - The cashier grabs three chocolate glazed donuts and three glazed donuts and puts them into a moderately sized paper bag. They then place the bag onto the counter. 

“That’ll be… six dollars even.” 

“Here you go.” - Steven gives the cashier six dollars, Steven and Spinel then walk out of the Big Donut. 

  
  


Steven and Spinel walk over to a bench on the boardwalk. Spinel has already begun eating one of her glazed donuts. 

She continues to munch on her pastry until- 

Squeak. 

Spinel swallows what’s in her mouth. She’s squeaking again. 

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak 

With every step comes the same irritating sound. Why can’t this sound just stop? Why does she have to be this way? What is Spinel? Just a walking talking toy? Was everything single part of Spinel designed to be laughed at? Is that all Spinel is? Just one big joke? 

Is that all I am? Just one big joke to be laughed at? My entire existence is just a joke, isn’t it? 

  
  


Steven walks up to a bench and sits down, Spinel just stops in front of the bench. She throws the bag of donuts at Steven who catches them easily. 

Spinel then sits down aggressively, crossing her arms. She slides down so her torso is on the bench’s seat and her head is resting on the back of the bench. She puts on a grumpy face. 

“Hey, what’s wrong? You seem grumpier than before.” - Steven’s looking down at Spinel, she makes eye contact. 

“I hate myself, that’s what’s wrong.” - Spinel says in a grumpy voice 

“Why’s that? There’s nothing to hate.” - Steven says with a warm smile 

Spinel would have blushed but she was too angry. 

“You mispronounced ‘there’s so much to hate.’” 

“Nah, I meant what I said. Come on, what’s wrong?” - Steven said, taking out a donut from the bag 

Spinel looked at Steven, she loved being his friend. He was too good to her, plus he always seemed to enjoy her company, which surprised her. She believes there’s no reason to tell Steven since she doubts he can help but she’ll tell him anyway, he’s her friend after all. 

“My whole life is a joke, and I’m getting sick of telling it.” 

Steven was a little surprised by this, especially that ‘i’m getting sick of telling it’ part. She told him before she wants to change and that she doesn’t want to be ‘the clown’ anymore. But the way she said this made him feel worried for some reason. 

“Your life isn’t a joke! Why would you think that?” 

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s that damn squeaking! Every Time I walk I make that sound! And I hate it!” - Spinel sat up as she said this, looking at Steven. 

“Oh, that. I haven’t actually noticed it all that much. I did at first but I’ve kinda just ignored it.” 

Spinel was taken aback by this, he didn’t find it annoying?

“You… you don’t find it annoying or anything?” 

“Well, not really, I guess. It was at first but that was only when I first met you and I was freaking out about fixing my friends memories and… Anyways, no, I don’t think it’s THAT annoying, I guess it’s kinda endearing.” 

“Endearing?” 

Spinel didn’t care what Steven thought, she just wants the Squeaking to stop. But it’s nice to know she isn’t annoying him. 

“Well… I’m glad I haven’t been annoying you or anything, but I just want it to stop! I-I don’t know how though…” - Spinel said, twirling her hair a little 

“That’s understandable, I’m sure you’ll figure something out. But just don’t stress out about it, it’s not as big a deal as you think it is.” - Steven took a bite out of his donut 

Spinel thought for a moment. Steven and her other friends have been so helpful the last month, she still can’t believe she has real friends for once. Maybe the squeaking wasn’t a big deal, just like her not liking camp pining hearts. Spinel wants it to stop but… maybe that can wait, Steven’s right, she’ll figure it out with time. 

“T-thanks, Steven. You're such a good friend, y’know?” Spinel looks at Steven, she’s slouching a bit so she has to look up at him. 

Steven turns to look at Spinel, still chewing some of his donut. He has to look down at her. Steven swallows his donut, and just stares at Spinel for a bit. 

“Thanks for saying that… Sometimes I doubt myself.” - Steven says, looking away from her

“Well, you shouldn’t! You’re an amazing friend! Anyone would be lucky to have ya around.” 

Steven turned to look at her again. 

“I’m really happy we’re friends, Spinel. It’s nice having someone understand me the way you do.” 

“Y-yeah, it is nice. It’s funny, really. Who would’a thought that me and you would’ve understood each other so much? We’ve come a long way from our first meeting haven’t we?” 

“Ha, yeah, we really have… You’re gonna keep your promise, right?” - Steven said, making eye contact with Spinel. 

“Of course! I promise, no matter what happens, no matter what trials and tribulations await us, I’ll always be your friend, Steven. Next time ya become a giant monster I’ll be right there with ya.” 

“That’s good but let’s hope that doesn’t happen.” 

They continued to look at each other for a few more seconds. They both had a warm smile. 

Eventually Spinel sat up and took a donut, munching on it while Steven finished his. 

The two sat there for a while, eating donuts. Cracking jokes, talking about life, staring at the sunset, It was fun. 

  
  
  


-A Little Graduation Ceremony- 

-June 7th, Monday evening, 4 weeks after Spinel apologized to Volleyball-

  
  


Currently, Spinel was standing amongst a crowd of gems and humans. They were at the beach, there’s a stage set up in front of the water and there’s also a table full of various foods and drinks. 

Today was a graduation ceremony for the most recent class of gems that have finished Little Homeschool. Steven and the crystal gems were set up to give a small speech. The gems didn’t actually want Steven to attend but he managed to convince them. 

Spinel was just a guest, Steven invited her. He actually wanted her on the stage with him, mostly as a backup speaker. She’ll walk up, say very few words into the mic and then get off the stage.

That’s what the crystal gems were going to do, for some reason, Steven wanted her to do it too. 

  
  


Spinel was pouring herself a drink of fruit punch at the concessions table. 

“Hey, Spinel, it’s almost time for the speech. Are you almost ready?” - Steven asked, walking up next to her 

“Oh, yep! I’m 100% ready! Whenever you want me up there, I’ll stroll on up!” 

“Okay, in about… *Steven looked at his phone* five minutes, okay?” 

“Yep! Gotcha! Hey, um, one question though.” 

“Okay, ask away.” 

Spinel took a drink from her cup. 

“Why is it you’se even want me up there? I’m not graduating, nor am I a teacher!”

“Well, me and the gems were hoping to have a current student speak a few words of encouragement to the other students here. And since you're the only current student here I actually know that isn't graduating… I thought that you’d be a good candidate.” 

“Oh, alright, I’ll do my best!” 

Steven nodded. 

“Great! Can’t wait! Remember five minutes!” 

Steven ran towards the opposite side of the beach to speak with the crystal gems. Spinel continued to enjoy her drink, counting the seconds. 

  
  


It’s been 4 minutes, Spinel has finished her drink and has gone to meet up with the rest of the gems. 

They were standing behind the stage and currently were having a talk. Spinel ran up to the group, hoping she didn’t miss anything important. 

“Hey ya, gang! I’m not late or anything, right?” - Spinel asked

“Nope, you’re actually right on time.” - said Steven

“Oh, good. I was worried, hehe. So, what were y'all talking about?” 

“We were just doing a refresher course of what we were gonna do once we got on stage.” 

Spinel nodded, she was a bit nervous so a refresher course would be nice. 

“You remember what you're going to say, right Spinel?” - inquired Pearl 

“Of course, she does Pearl. Have a little more faith in our friend.” - Garnet said with confidence

Having Garnet snap to defend Spinel like that made her happy, it also boosted her confidence. Maybe that’s why she did it, to help boost Spinel’s confidence. She could probably foresee Spinel’s nervousness. 

“Y-yeah, I do! I’ve been practicing it in my head all day!” 

“Good, I expected no less. I was just asking, Garnet.” - said Pearl, defending herself. 

“Great, now let’s-” - Steven gets cut off by his phone’s timer going off, it was time. 

“Shoot, it’s time for the ceremony to start!” 

Dang, no refresher course then? - Spinel thought 

“Okay, um, quick rundown. Everyone pay attention!” - Steven said in a hurry 

“I’ll start the speech, during said speech you’ll all be behind me. Kinda acting like wallpaper but when I give the signal you’ll bring the graduates to the stage. Afterwards, each of you will give your short speeches in order. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst and then Spinel, okay?” 

“Of course, Steven. No need to panic.” - says Pearl 

“Yep, we’ve got this in the bag!” - says Amethyst 

Garnet and Spinel just nod. 

Everyone, including Steven, goes to the front of the stage. Spinel follows close behind. She’s still a bit nervous but she’s sure this’ll go alright. She just has to say a few words and then it’s over. Easy peasy. 

  
  


The group of five walk onto the stage, Steven stands at the front of the stage where there’s a microphone. Spinel and the other gems stand behind him in order. 

From where Spinel’s standing she can see the group of graduates. They’re currently off to the right side close to the stage. 

Steven taps the microphone with his finger two times making Spinel look back over towards him and the crowd of humans and gems. 

Standing here, seeing everyone all at once. Seeing all the eyes that are looking at the stage, it’s making Spinel anxious. Spinel’s never had stage fright in the past but… she’s never actually been on stage before either. Saying those quick few words of encouragement might be harder than she thought. 

“Hello everyone! It’s great to be back here to celebrate another set of gems graduating!” - Steven greets everyone with confidence 

“This time we’ve got a larger group of graduates than last time so, me and the crystal gems thought we’d express our joy and hope for you all!” 

Spinel was standing straight with her arms behind her back. She was trying her best to hide how nervous she was. She’s also on edge since she’s waiting for their que to bring the graduates on stage. 

“So, without further adieu, let’s give it up for-” 

Without letting Steven finish Spinel does a funny pose, which is also accompanied by her squeaking. 

This grabs the attention of both Steven and the crystal gems. Steven turns around to see what Spinel’s doing. 

“Spinel, why are you doing that?” 

The thing is, she did this by accident. She had gotten so nervous that she mixed up when they were going to bring up the graduates and when they were all gonna speak. She thought they were all going to speak right now. Which is wrong, they were gonna bring the graduates up first. 

So, she now had to think of something to play off this embarrassing mix up. 

“I, um, s-sorry, I just thought that maybe I could get involved just a little bit. Like maybe I’d do a funny pose or say a funny catchphrase and that way they’d all love me and-”

“I asked you to be wallpaper, right now, and nothing more.” 

“Okay… Funny wallpaper? Wacky wallpaper?” - said Spinel, moving her hands around, trying to be funny. 

I’m an idiot. This is only making things worse, I should just shut up. This is already embarrassing enough as it is. 

“No, you can do whatever joke you want when you speak, Spinel.” - Steven said 

Spinel nodded, going back to her normal pose. 

Steven nodded and turned back to the crowd.  
  


“Okay, now, without further adieu, let’s give it up for our graduates!” - Steven points towards the group of gems wearing graduation caps. 

The crystal gems move towards the front of the stage, Spinel notices and follows. The graduates all walked onto the stage, the crowd of people clapping. There were about 12 gems, Spinel only recognized one of them, Volleyball. 

The graduates were now at the back of the stage, standing were Spinel and the gems used to be. Spinel turned back to the crowd of people in front of the stage, tensing up. She was still nervous beyond belief. 

“Now it’s about time that the gems most of you call teachers come up and say a few words.” 

Steven backed away from the microphone and Garnet walked up to it and took the mic from the stand, holding it up to her face. Steven walked over to where Garnet used to be and stood still. 

Garnet began speaking, Spinel couldn’t focus on what she was saying. The anxiety was getting to Spinel, the longer she stared out into the crowd the larger it appeared to be. It was too late to back down now, so Spinel had to get a hold of herself. 

Before Spinel knew Garnet was finished, Pearl walked up to the mic and Garnet stood where Pearl used to stand. 

“Hello, everyone! It’s great to be here today! I’m so happy for you all! Not all of you may be graduating tonight but you’ve all made such great progress!” - Pearl began 

Spinel looked back over to the crowd, going from person to person. 

There are so many of them… how can any speak in front of so many people so confidently? H-how am I supposed to speak to any of these people? I’m bound to mess up! 

Pearl was finished before Spinel could finish her train of thought, next up was amethyst. 

“Hey everyone! Today’s a fun day isn’t it? Y’know, I never imagined I’d end up a teacher but life’s unexpected isn’t it?” - Amethyst spoke confidently 

Spinel kept looking over at her, she knew Amethyst would be good at this. Amethyst has never had trouble doing things like this. Spinel would like to be better friends with Amethyst, Steven always says that her and Amethyst would get along well. But Spinel can’t help but feel inferior to her in every way. 

Spinel looked back over to the crowd, this time a particular gem caught her eye. This gem was standing near the concessions, right behind Lapis. They were holding a glass of juice and staring up at Amethyst, but they were making a peculiar face. Almost like they were studying her, examining her in every way they could. 

Suddenly, Amethyst was finished, it’s Spinel’s turn. 

Amethyst walked over to Spinel, patting her on the back. 

“Knock em dead, Spinnsy.” - Amethyst said trying to encourage Spinel 

Spinel walked up to the mic, she was the same height as Steven so she didn’t need to mess with the mic at all. She grabbed a hold of the mic and looked out into the crowd. 

Everyone’s staring at me… I… I can’t do this… 

Spinel was looking from person to person, she gulped. All the eyes locked onto her, it was too much. She wasn’t ready, she couldn’t form the words even if she tried. 

“C’mon Spinel! Say something!” - Amethyst whispered over to her 

“Spinel, it’s okay! Just say what you planned and get it over with!” - Steven said, trying to help her 

Spinel couldn’t do it, she had pretty much forgotten everything she wanted to say. Spinel just froze… 

Suddenly, that gem from earlier caught her eye. This time, she could get a proper look at them. 

They glared at Spinel, in a similar way they did to Amethyst. However, soon the gem formed a sinister smirk. 

Spinel couldn’t make out too many details but she could tell the gem was blue or some shade of blue. They wore a light blue jacket and had a bandana around their neck forming an upside down triangle. The bandana had a design on it but Spinel couldn’t make it out. The gem also had long, messy, curly hair, almost like… Steven’s. 

Then, there were those glowing blue eyes. They were staring into Spinel’s soul… if she has one, that is. Spinel couldn’t help but make eye contact. 

Suddenly, the gem’s smirk grew wider, and they, too, made eye contact. Their eyes, for a split second, glowed brighter than before. The gem then put their left index finger up to their mouth. 

After that, Spinel couldn’t help but feel a sudden spark inside of her. Like she had just been electrocuted and the electricity was flowing through her body. It was strange really, this strange feeling… It motivated her, Spinel felt… different, like she could do anything! She felt like she had more energy than ever before! Like she was unstoppable!

With a big smile, Spinel grabbed the mic from the stand. 

“Helloooooo everyone! Spinel here! Not all of ya know me but I am a fellow student at Little Homeschool! I’m not a crystal gem nor am I graduating, I’m just here to tell you all a little something special.” - Spinel said with a vigor like never before 

Steven and the other gems just looked at each other, a little surprised in this sudden change. However, Steven was mostly proud, she managed to get it together. 

“So ya better listen when I tell ya: LISTEN CLOSELY! Or ya might miss it!” - Spinel had already managed to capture the audience’s full attention 

“Life is tough, it’s strange and sometimes, it can leave ya feeling hopeless… But no matter what happens never and I mean never give up! Never lose hope! Because no matter how difficult things might get, all it takes is a little hope and good friends-” - Spinel looked over at Steven 

“To get ya through the tough times! Not to mention, with a little elbow grease you too can graduate like these fine fellows ova here!” - Spinel moved over to the side of the stage and moved her arm in front of the group of graduates

“Then after that who knows what’ll happen! Because the future’s in your hands and only yours! So, if you want a bright future, a future where you can choose to do anything, be anything then work hard and don’t give up! I haven’t given up! And I’ve been working crazy hard! So, you should too!” - Spinel dropped the mic onto the stage and stood tall 

She then picked up the mic and put it back onto the stand. Spinel walked over to the crystal gems and stood proud. She high fived Steven, who ran back over to the mic, and stood still. Waiting for Steven to finish the ceremony. 

“Alright! Let’s all give a round of applause for the crystal gems!” - Steven said, pointing to the gems and Spinel 

Everyone clapped one more time, Spinel did a bow and the crystal gems just smiled. 

“Okay, so, I’m sure we’re all in agreement when I say that we’re proud to see our friends graduate and move on to bigger and better things! I personally can’t wait to see what they’ll accomplish in the future! So, graduates! It’s time! Move those tassels!” 

The group of twelve gems all moved the tassels on their caps in near perfect unison. Smiling big smiles all the while. 

“And with that, let’s all give them a big hearty congratulations!” 

The graduates all threw their caps into the air, well the crowd clapped and cheered. 

Spinel and the crystal gems clapped as the graduates got off the stage to go have some fun. 

  
  


Spinel got off the stage, she ran over to the concessions. She wanted some of those donuts they had just brought over from The Big Donut. 

Everyone else was having cake but Spinel personally thought cake was too sweet so she’d rather have the donuts. 

Spinel grabbed a glazed donut and began chomping down, she was still just as energetic as earlier. She couldn’t explain why but she didn’t care. 

“Spinel! There you are!” - Steven said as he ran up to her 

“Heyya Steven! What’s going on?” 

“Oh, nothing, I just wanted to say that speech was amazing! I don’t think I’ve seen you have that much energy in a long time.” 

“I know right! It’s crazy like I was freaking out and I just could form the words and then all of a sudden BOOM it’s like a switch was flipped haha.” 

“Yeah, I was worried when you froze up like that, I’m glad you were able to get it together. You did really well.” - Steven smiled at Spinel 

“Aw, shucks, it was that good…” - Spinel looked away for a second but looked back over at Steven 

Steven was still smiling at her but suddenly his smile faded. He was looking at her all weird now.  
  


“W-what’s wrong? Did I say something or-or do something?” 

“N-no, it’s just… your eyes.” 

“W-what about my eyes?” 

“They’re… they’re blue, like they’re glowing blue.” 

“What? My eyes are blue! Wha-why!”

“I-I don’t know! This isn’t normal? I thought you knew!” 

“Why would I have known?”

“Because you were acting completely normal, I just assumed that it was a normal thing!” 

Spinel began shaking her head, her eyes began to water. 

“Spinel, calm down! I-I’m sure it’s nothing!” 

“I am calm!” - Spinel stopped shaking her head and stared at Steven 

“Wait…” 

Spinel stopped and Steven looked at her eyes. As Spinel’s eyes continued to water, the blue faded away. Her eyes returning to normal. 

“What is it? Are-are they still blue?” 

“No, they’re normal again.” 

Spinel sighed with relief and then began to chuckle. 

“Why… Why were my eyes blue? Haha, like what was that about?” 

Steven began to laugh too

“I… I have no clue. But, haha, I’m glad it was nothing too serious.” 

The two continued to laugh for a second

“Steven! Hey! Can you come over here for a second!” - Steven heard bismuth call him from the other side of the beach 

“Hey, Spinel, I’m gonna go talk with Bismuth. I’ll be right back.” 

“Okay! Don’t take too long!” - Spinel said 

  
  


Spinel was still at the concessions table, she had poured herself a drink of fruit punch. Steven was still talking with Bismuth and the other gems. 

Everyone was having fun dancing, eating, and chatting with friends. Spinel, however, was kinda bored. They haven’t played any songs she likes and most of her friends are busy hanging out or chatting with other friends. There’s also the fact she’s still confused on why her eyes were blue earlier. A part of her thought Steven was playing a prank on her but she wasn’t sure. 

By now, the energy she had earlier was gone. In fact, she actually lost that energy around the same time her eyes went back to normal. Spinel thought maybe her having blue eyes and that sudden burst of energy were related but she came to doubt it. 

As Spinel finished her cup of juice she began to remember that weird gem. Like most gems that were here she didn’t recognize them. But that’s normal, since Spinel isn’t the type of gem to immediately tell what kind of gem someone is just by looking at them, but she also didn’t know that gem in any capacity. They were a total stranger. Come to think of it, didn’t that strange gem have glowing blue eyes? 

“Hey, Spinel.” - said a monotone voice in a snarky tone 

Spinel looked up from the floor and saw Lapis. She was putting a slice of cake onto a plate. 

“Oh, hi Lapis.” - Spinel was a bit shocked Lapis said hi to her. She’s keenly aware that Lapis dislikes her 

“That was good speech, even for you.” - Lapis said passive aggressively, not looking away from what she’s doing 

“Thanks, glad you liked it.” 

“Yeah, well don’t get used to it.” - Lapis looked towards her, holding the plate with cake on it in her hand 

“Hmph, you couldn’t even wear anything nice?” 

“Oh, well, I don’t own any human clothes.” 

“Then buy some.” 

“I would love to but I don’t really have any money.”

“Of course you don’t…” 

“And I doubt I’d look good in any human clothes anyways…” - Spinel said, looking away from Lapis 

“Yeah, you’re probably right. It’d definitely be a waste to buy clothes only to not wear them.” 

“Y-yep…” 

Lapis uses her fork to take a bite out of the cake, clearly indulging in the taste. 

“So, Spinel…” - Lapis takes the fork out of her mouth and puts onto the plate 

“What made you come to Earth in the first place?” 

Spinel looked at Lapis. A little confused, afterall, it’s a bit strange of her to ask considering she doesn’t like Spinel. 

“W-well, staying with the diamonds just wasn’t working out, haha. They didn’t really like me, so when I found out they were just using me I kinda just ran away. But things are much better here, I’m a lot happier now.” 

“Mmhmm, I bet you are…” - Lapis takes another bite of her cake 

“So you’re not here to hurt anyone? You’re not gonna give killing Steven another shot?” - Lapis swallows the bit of cake 

“Wha-no! Why would you think that? I’d… I’d never do anything like that again!” 

Spinel couldn’t believe this, why would Lapis think that? She knew that Lapis hated her but… to assume Spinel would ever try to kill Steven again is just… 

“Sorry, it’s just I don’t buy this whole friendly act, OK? I know for a fact you’re here to hurt my friends and I won’t let you. I don’t know why they’d trust you so quickly but I’m onto you… The moment you try anything, I’ll be there to put an end to it. I won’t let you hurt my friends again.” 

Spinel didn’t know what to say or to think. She knew she had to keep it together, she can’t lose her temper, it’ll only prove her point. 

“I… I can’t believe you… I-I-I’m trying so hard to be better and-and to change and you’d say something like that? I’m really trying to get better! Why can’t you just support me like Steven or-” 

“Because I’m not stupid! I’ve let my guard down for people like you one too many times! I’m not gonna let it happen again! OK? You have two options, you either run back to Homeworld like the little snake you are OR you stay here and wait until your little act fails and I clobber you. Which is it gonna be, Spinel?” 

What? She… she actually believes I’m here to hurt everyone… But… But I… I didn’t even want to be Steven’s friend when I first came here, why in the world would I want to hurt him again? 

By now, Lapis and Spinel’s little argument had gathered quite a few onlookers, Steven and the gems was one of them. 

“Lapis, what’s going on? Why are you yelling at Spinel?” - asked Steven 

“I CAUGHT HER! THAT’S WHY! I know for a fact she’s using you guys! She’s just gonna stab you in the back when you least expect it! And I’m not gonna let that happen!” 

“What? Why would you think that? Spinel wouldn’t-” 

“Why? It’s so obvious!” - Lapis says cutting Steven off 

“What reason would she just suddenly decide to leave the diamonds and come leave here with us? The very people she tried to kill? The very people she hates the most? And on the very planet she tried to destroy? Because she’s plotting to kill us again! She’s trying to pull the wool over your eyes but I won’t let her!” 

Lapis says all this while still holding her plate. 

“Lapis, just calm down. I think maybe you're overthinking things.” - Steven says trying to defend Spinel.

“Yeah, if she still wanted us dead she would’ve tried something by now.” - Says Amethyst, backing Steven up. 

“That’s what she wants you to think! Remember bluebird azurite? We all trusted her, we let her get close to us and then she tried to kill Steven and his dad! She’s doing the same thing!” 

Spinel was mortified, no one’s going to believe her, right? There’s no one they’d honestly think Spinel’s here to kill Steven… She would never do that! Never again, Steven’s her friend… her best friend, she would never betray him or try to hurt him. 

“Lapis, please, calm down! There’s no reason to make such assumptions!” - Pearl shouts out 

“Yeah! Spinel’s been really nice and she’s already made so much progress! I should know, I’ve helped her plenty! She would never-” 

“Just shut it, Steven! I’m not gonna let any of you be fooled by this clown! Have we already forgotten so quickly? She attacked Volleyball! Why would she-” 

“Actually, she didn’t attack-” 

“Shut up! I’m trying to make a proper argument here! How can I prove to you she can’t be trusted if you all interrupt me!” 

Spinel didn’t know Lapis very well but even she could tell Lapis acting out like this was very out of character. But that didn’t stop her from slowly losing her patient. 

“Y’know what Lapis, fine you win. I’ll go back to Homeworld if it makes you happy. I’m sorry my mere existence was this upsetting for you.” - Spinel said sarcastically 

Lapis turned to Spinel. 

“Wait… really?” 

“No, stupid.” 

Spinel grabbed Lapis’ plate from her and smashes into Lapis’ face. Covering Lapis in cake. 

“Fuck you, I’m going home…” - Spinel turns around and begins to walk away, clearly having lost her patience 

Spinel barely makes it two feet away when BLAM she’s suddenly thrown onto the ground by a sudden force. Someone hit her in the back. 

Spinel got up and turned around with a sour look on her face. 

Spinel saw that Lapis had used the various drinks at the concession table to form a fist and hit her with it. Spinel had also noticed something she hadn’t noticed before. Lapis’ eyes were glowing blue, for some reason, Spinel didn’t notice earlier. 

“Lapis! That was uncalled for!” - Steven yelled

“She threw my cake in my face. It was totally called for.” 

  
“Aw, upset you got a little frosting in your hair? Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll wash right out.” - Spinel says mockingly 

“Oh, that’s real nice, haha, I’ve had enough of you.” 

Lapis uses all remaining drinks she can get a hold of to turn the fist she just made into a large saw blade. She then sends flying towards Spinel. 

The saw blade cuts through any tables and sends tons of sand flying as it makes its way to Spinel. 

“Uh oh!” - Spinel says, quickly jumping out of the way. 

Midair, Spinel notices two humans that are in the way of the saw blade. She quickly extends her arms and grabs, bringing them close to her to keep them safe from the oncoming danger. 

Spinel lands safely on the ground and let’s go of the humans, they quickly run off to safety. Spinel turns around to face Lapis. 

“Okay, Lapis! You really need to calm down, you almost hurt those people!” - Spinel shouts 

“Yeah! Just calm down! We can talk this out! No one has to fight!” - Steven yells 

Lapis, who’s now flying, just ignores them. She raises her hand and begins using water from the ocean, forming various chains, she then launches them at Spinel. 

Spinel manages to quickly jump around them, narrowly avoiding each and everyone. 

“Lapis, seriously! I don’t want to fight! I’m sorry about the cake! Just, please, stop! You might hurt someone!” 

“Yeah, you!” - Lapis yells 

“Lapis, just stop! Spinel didn’t even do anything to deserve this! Well… apart from the cake thing.” - Peridot shouts at Lapis, muttering the last part, however. 

Spinel was now away from the partygoers and from the stage, now directly in front of the ocean. Lapis forms another giant hand from the ocean, and slams it in front of Spinel. Spinel jumps over the giant fist, however, Lapis opens the fist and quickly slaps Spinel in the back with it, sending her flying into the stage. 

Spinel breaks through the side of the stage, she’s now inside of the stage. 

“Spinel! Lapis, that’s enough! Just calm down already!” - Steven screamed at Lapis 

“Yeah! Or we’ll make you!” - Amethyst shouted 

Lapis flew above the stage, readying more chains and various spears out of the water. 

Spinel slowly stood up, Spinel didn’t like this one bit. Spinel wasn’t built for fighting, she might have been good at it but she didn’t like doing it nor did her body. Plus, she really didn't want to hurt anyone, let alone one of Steven’s best friends. However, her patience was wearing thin. 

“Ok, fine. You want to fight? I’ll fight…” - Spinel begins to form a Spinel with her legs and prepares to jump through the top of the roof 

“Please, Lapis, we can talk this out!” - Garnet shouts 

“Lapis, this isn’t funny! Spinel’s my friend! She just wants to get better! Stop trying to hurt her!”

“Just stop it! She’s not your friend! Why do you trust her?”

Before Steven or the gems could answer Spinel jumped out of the stage. Hitting Lapis in the face with an enlarged fist. 

Spinel then coils her legs into a spring and uses them to push Lapis downward on to the ground. Spinel then lands on the ground as well, sending sand flying upward.

“Oh, now you show your true colors…” - Lapis mutters to herself as she stands up 

Lapis forms more chains and sends them towards Spinel, who manages to jump around them once more. She then jumps towards lapis, rotating mid air and kicking Lapis in the chest with both legs. This maneuver sends Lapis backwards. 

Spinel stares at Lapis as she slowly begins to stand back. 

“So, do you want to talk now?” - Spinel asks 

Lapis doesn’t want to say a word, she just quickly forms a fist with the water behind her and hits Spinel with it, sending her flying backwards. 

Spinel quickly readjusts and bounces back towards Lapis, who’s turned her water wings into fists. Lapis uses her water fists to catch Spinel’s fist, putting them in a temporary stare down. 

“Both of you stop fighting please!” - Steven yelled 

“She started it! She has to stop first!” - Spinel yells 

“How about you stop first!” - Lapis says 

“Why? So you can poof me?” 

“Maybe…” 

“Oh, come on you guys just quit it already!” - Steven yelled

Spinel uses her legs to jump over lapis, keeping her grip on Lapis’ water fists tight. She then throws lapis into the stage, just like Lapis did to her. Lapis is unable to stop herself in time, causing her to crash through the side of the stage, just like Spinel did. 

Spinel stands still, sighing. She really didn’t like this. 

“Is… is everyone okay? No one got hurt right?” - Spinel asked, turning to look at Steven and the gems 

Steven shook his head. 

“No, not that we know of. Well, besides you and Lapis.” 

“Yeah, um, Lapis is okay, right?” - Peridot asks 

“Yeeeah, I’m sure she’s fine.” - Spinel says 

“We should probably go check on everyone, including Lapis.” - Says Garnet 

Steven nods and runs over to the remaining partygoers. The crystal gems and Spinel follow. 

Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl go to check on the partygoers while Steven, Peridot, Bismuth and Spinel check on Lapis. 

“Lapis? Are you okay?” - Steven says walking over to the big hole on the side of the stage. 

“Lapis? Lapis!” - Peridot calls out

“Careful, guys, she might still be on edge.” - Bismuth says 

The four get closer to the hole, stopping right in front of it. 

“Lapis?” - Steven yells once more 

It was dark under the stage, there was a small hole on the top but it was dark outside so it didn’t provide much light. 

Steven began to go under the stage when, suddenly, a pair glowing blue eyes appeared. They stared right at Steven then, Spinel. 

Lapis quickly formed water wings, flying up through the hole in the top of the stage. 

The four quickly backed away from the stage to look up at Lapis. She quickly made a motion with her left arm, as if she was throwing something to the right. A large tidal wave was formed and it crashed onto the beach, sending everyone in it’s way backwards towards the boardwalk. 

  
  


Spinel sat up, she was drenched in water. She looked up to see the mess Lapis had just caused. 

Why would she do this? Just… just to poof me? 

Spinel quickly noticed Steven, he was clearly hurt. She then noticed everyone else who was harmed by the tidal wave. 

Lapis, she’s gone crazy… She… She’s hurting people… innocent People… 

Lapis suddenly landed down in front of Steven, who looked up at her. 

She’s hurting people, destroying things… I… I have to stop her… I… must protect everyone… must stop Lapis 

Spinel stood up, she was ready to stop Lapis. Spinel’s crazy eyes had come back once more, she wasn’t gonna let this go on any longer. 

“Steven, I’m… I’m so sorry! I… I didn’t mean to-” 

Lapis was suddenly grabbed by Spinel, Lapis managed to quickly get Spinel off her. She formed a few more chains and sent them towards Spinel, who dodged them with ease. 

Lapis then formed her water wings, which she turned to fists once more, she attempted to punch Spinel with them but she dodge those too. Spinel crouched down to dodge one more swing from Lapis and grabbed a handful of sand, throwing it in Lapis’ face. 

Lapis put her hands on her face, rubbing her eyes. Spinel took the opportunity to tackle Lapis. 

Spinel quickly wrapped all four of her limbs around Lapis tightly, Spinel was behind Lapis at this point. Spinel held Lapis so tight she couldn’t use her powers. 

“Let go of me! Let go of me!” - Lapis yelled, struggling in an attempt to free herself 

“NO! Not until you calm down! I’m not gonna let you hurt anyone!” 

‘Grrgh! Let me go!” 

“I said NO! You have to stop hurting everyone first!” 

Steven and the other gems got up by now and walked over to Lapis and Spinel. 

“Lapis, what the heck!” - Amethyst shouts 

“Yeah! You could’ve really hurt somebody!” - Peridot says 

“And you almost hurt Steven!” - Spinel says 

“I’m fine, Spinel, but seriously Lapis. Why would you do this? What did Spinel do to deserve this?” 

“Yeah! Why would you just attack me? If you hate me that’s fine but you don’t have the right to just attack me!” - Spinel says 

“I… I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt, OK?” - Lapis yells 

“The last few times gems that tried to hurt us promised to change and be better ended badly. Bluebird tried to kill Steven and his dad and that one remembered that one ruby? She tricked us into thinking she was gonna be a crystal gem and then she stole our ship!” 

Spinel didn’t know who Lapis was talking about but she felt bad. Knowing two gems lied to the crystal gems and then stabbed them in the back, well, it explains why Lapis wasn’t quick to trust Spinel. 

“And we just trusted them! I just… Didn't want that to happen again. Spinel came so close to taking everything I care about away and I just… I just was scared she’d try again. And I failed to help when she did last time! I didn’t help protect my home or Steven! Speaking of Steven, I just felt so helpless when I saw what happened to him. When I saw how hurt he was! I really wanted to protect him and make sure he didn’t get hurt like that again. It only made me more suspicious of Spinel but I was wrong. I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have attacked you, I’m so sorry. I should’ve been more trusting…” 

Spinel could barely notice from behind her but she saw the faint glow from Lapis’ eyes disappear. Whatever that means. 

“Can.. can you please let me go now.” - said Lapis in a somber tone 

Spinel slowly released her grip on Lapis. Once Spinel fully let go of Lapis she stood up, Lapis, however, remained sitting. 

“I’m really sorry guys, I don’t know what came over me…” 

Spinel walked over to the group, standing next to Steven. Lapis then stood up. 

“It’s fine Lapis… I’m pretty sure no one got hurt. We’ll have to clean up quite a bit though.” - Steven says 

“Yeah… We should probably get started, it’s late enough as it is.” - Lapis says looking around the beach 

Steven and the other gems walked over to the mess, Spinel, however, stopped Lapis before she could join them. 

“Lapis… I’m sorry, for everything I did. But I promise you, I’m better now. I’ll never try to hurt you or Steven ever again!” - Spinel says to Lapis 

“I know Spinel, I’m sorry for attacking you. I really don’t know what came over me. I hope you can forgive me.” 

“Heh, It’s fine, really. I’m very durable, y’know?” 

“Haha, that’s good. But seriously, I am sorry.” 

“I know, apology accepted. Y’know if you ever want to talk, I’m always available.” 

“Okay, maybe I’ll take you up on that offer.” 

Spinel nods. 

“We should probably go join the others.” 

Lapis nods and the two walk over to help clean up the mess. 

  
  


-A Sad Ending To A Happy Life- 

-June 10th, thursday at noon, three days after graduation-

  
  


It had been a few days since the graduation and for the most part everythings returned to normal. 

Spinel and Steven were currently on the boardwalk, they were waiting outside of Beach Citywalk Fries for their order to be finished. 

“I still think it’s weird to have an entire restaurant centered around french fries.” - Spinel says, standing next to Steven 

“Like they sell only french fries!” 

“Thanks, Peedee.” - Steven said as he took the basket of fries 

The two began to walk back over towards Steven’s house. 

“No hamburgers, no hotdogs, just french fries! Just french fries!” 

“Yeah, it’s a little weird I guess, but that doesn’t stop them from getting plenty of customers.” 

Spinel took a few fries and put them in her mouth. 

“Yep, plus their fries are super tasty!” - Spinel says with her mouth full 

“Haha, yeah. Y’know, I used to order fry bits when I was younger.” 

“Fry bits? *Spinel swallows her food* What are fry bits?” 

“They’re basically just very small fries. Typically leftover fries from their usual batch of fries. They aren’t an official menu item though, I stopped ordering them a while ago.” 

“Interesting.” - Spinel proceeds to grab another handful of fries and shoves them in her mouth, Steven just chuckles lightly at this 

  
  


The two walk up to the entrance of Steven’s house. The fries they just ordered were already close to gone. 

They walked into Steven’s house, not yet noticing what awaits them inside. 

“Isn’t that weird? I thought it was really weird.” - Spinel said finishing a story 

“It is pretty weird.” - Steven said laughing 

The two barely walked five feet into the house before they looked away from each other and noticed the gathering that was waiting for them. 

“Hello, Spinel.” - Said Blue Pearl, who was standing in front of the kitchen counter 

“There you are! We’ve been waiting for you! What took you two so long!” - said Yellow Pearl in a snarky tone 

“Um, hello, you two. What are you doing here.” - Steven said 

Yellow and Blue Pearl were regulars in Little Homeworld but they rarely come to Steven’s house. They still live on Homeworld and they haven’t come to Little Homeworld recently so their sudden appearance made Spinel uncomfortable. 

“Ahem, Steven, Spinel, we have something very serious to talk to you guys about.” - Pearl said, standing off the couch. 

“What is it?” - Steven said placing the fries on the dining table 

“So, me, Garnet and Amethyst have been talking about some recent events and some new knowledge that has come to light. And…” - Pearl pauses 

“And?” - Steven inquires 

“And we think it’s best Spinel goes back to Homeworld.” - Garnet says 

Both Spinel and Steven were taken aback by this. Why would they think that? What happened that made them think Spinel can’t stay on Earth anymore? 

“What! Why?” 

“Because she’s a bad influence on you Steven! She’s done great at Little Homeschool but I just think that it’s best for both her and you if she goes back to Homeworld.” - Says Pearl 

“No! I’m not going back! I’m happy here! You can’t just take that away from me!” - Spinel says trying to fight back tears 

“Yeah! What did she do for you guys to try and kick her out like this? She’s done nothing but good! Yeah, her and Volleyball had a little argument but that’s perfectly normal!” 

“Yeah!” - says Spinel 

“And the incident at graduation wasn’t Spinel’s fault! Spinel has done nothing wrong!” 

“Steven, we understand how you feel but, your recovery has gotten off track since Spinel’s come to Earth.” - Pearl says 

“Off track? How has it gotten off track?” 

“We know you’ve stopped going to therapy, dude.” - Amethyst says 

“What? How… how’d you find out?” 

“It’s simple honestly.” - Garnet says 

“Your therapist has been calling a lot and we happened to answer one of these calls when you weren’t home. Did you honestly think we wouldn’t find out?” - Pearl says

“Steven, we know you’ve done a lot better but you can’t just hide things like this.” - says Garnet 

“I only hid it from you because I knew you guys would freak out! I stopped going to therapy because it wasn’t helping! Okay? I’ve done just fine without it.” - Steven says 

“And Spinel has nothing to do with it! Why should she have to suffer for my choices?” 

“Because she’s supporting those choices, Steven. We already told you, Spinel’s a bad influence.” - Garnet says 

“A bad influence? How? What has she done to deserve that title?” 

“Well, you kinda already said. Her and Volleyball got into that big fight and then there was graduation…” - Pearl says

“But.. but none of those were big deals! Spinel had nothing to do with what happened on graduation!” 

“Yeah, Lapis was the one that attacked her but who threw cake in her face? It might not seem like a big deal but that was not the correct way to handle the situation. Spinel aggravated Lapis, plain and simple.” - Pearl says

“And then Spinel’s sudden outburst towards Volleyball. It might have started as a normal argument but Spinel escalated it by punching Volleyball.” - Garnet says

“And you can tell how that’s not okay!” - Pearl says 

“But how does that make Spinel a bad influence? Those were all small mistakes! It’s not like she’s encouraging me to go out and throw cake in people’s faces!” 

“It’s simple, Steven. Spinel is mentally unstable, she’s done better but you know for a fact that she can lose her temper very easily. And with you being out of therapy we don’t want you around someone like that Steven.” - Pearl says 

“Why does that matter? She doesn’t lose her temper that often!” 

“Are you sure about that? Spinel’s lost her temper before when she’s not with you, just because you don’t always hear about it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.” - Pearl says 

Spinel’s just staying silent, she doesn’t want to go back to homeworld. She can’t go back, she won’t go back. Yeah, she’s made mistakes but that doesn’t mean she’s a bad influence. She might’ve lost her temper once or twice in class but those were small, they hardly classify as outbursts. She might’ve supported Steven’s decision to leave therapy but was that so wrong? He said it wasn’t helping. 

“And we’ve been talking with the diamonds recently and we think-” 

“You’ve been talking with the diamonds!? Behind my back!?” 

“Yes but it was about Spinel. They really miss her!” - says Pearl 

“It’s true!” - says Blue Pearl 

“They really want Spinel to give them a second chance. They’re really heartbroken over you leaving them like that, Spinel.” - says Yellow Pearl 

“Why should I care! I’m sure they’re lying! They never ever wanted me! I know that! Why would I ever go back to them?” - Spinel finally decides to speak 

“Because they’re devastated, Spinel. They really are sorry for making you feel like they don’t care about you.” - says Blue Pearl 

“Listen, if Spinel doesn’t want to go back, she doesn’t have to! It doesn’t matter what the diamonds say or what you guys say, she’s staying right here!” - Steven says getting more and more angry 

“Steven, we’re serious. Spinel really should go back to Homeworld. She’s only supporting your bad habits! You may not think it now but trust us, she’s not good for you Steven!” - Pearl says 

“I don’t care! Spinel’s happy here! Just… just let her stay! If you want, me and her will stop hanging out, whatever you want just let Spinel stay on Earth!” - Steven says getting desperate 

“No, Steven. Spinel needs to go back to Homeworld. It’s the best for you and her. Trust us, we’re only trying to help you. If you really want, just let us explain ourselves. There’s still plenty for us to say.” - Pearl says trying her best to convince Steven to listen. 

“You know what? NO! I-I don’t need this right now, I’m sick of you guys being so damn overprotective! I’m leaving, come on Spinel.” - Steven grabs Spinel’s hand and walks out of the house. 

“Steven, wait!” - Pearl says but him and Spinel already left 

  
  


“I can’t believe them… Thinking you're a bad influence for no reason… You’ve done nothing to deserve this.” - Steven mutters to himself as him and Spinel walk towards Little Homeworld. It was sunny earlier but it’s cloudy now. 

Steven was still holding Spinel’s hand, his grip was both secure and so gentle. It was… comforting. 

“Um, Steven? Where exactly are we going?” - Spinel inquires 

“Your place, I just need to think for a second…” - Steven and Spinel continue to walk

“I just can not believe this! Why would they say that? Why are they so overprotective? You’ve made the tiniest mistake and suddenly you're a bad influence. It’s so stupid.” 

“Yeah… I’m not a bad influence, right? I know you're still recovering and I guess I’m recovering too. Do you think maybe It’s bad that two people in recovery are hanging out?” 

“What? No! Why would that be bad? We’ve done nothing but help each other! How can they say that’s bad?” 

“I guess you’re right, but… you’re sure?” 

“Yes, I’m sure. I’m not gonna let them take you away back to the diamonds. You have every right to stay on Earth like every other gem.” 

Spinel knew Steven was right but she couldn’t help but have doubts. Maybe the gems were right… 

The two continued to walk, they eventually reached Little Homeworld. They continued to walk until they reached Spinel’s apartment complex, at which point they walked up to Spinel’s apartment and went inside. 

  
  


“They can’t honestly be serious… What logical reasons could they have? They couldn’t have any! Because their argument is illogical!” - Steven said sitting down at the dining table 

Spinel stood at the table, she didn’t know what to do. All she knew was one thing, she can’t go back to the Diamonds. 

“So… what are you gonna do?” - Spinel asked

“I don’t know… I’m just so sick of the gems at this point. Do they really think they can help me recover by locking me away? Forcing me to stay in my room forever? I’m allowed to have a life…” - Steven sat back in his chair 

“I just wish I could get away from them… live my own life without them constantly sheltering me…” - Steven suddenly sat up 

“That’s it!” 

“W-what’s it?” - Spinel asked 

Steven stood up off his chair and grabbed Spinel's hand and held it in his. 

“Spinel, we should run away!” 


	6. A Special Announcement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To the few people who read this story, I have an announcement to make.

Hello everyone, I have an announcement to make. I wanted to say I’m glad the few of you who read this are enjoying this story, however, after reading your kind comments and discovering a much older fic, I have had an epiphany. I have thought long and hard about this and it is with a heavy heart that I regret to inform you I have decided to stop working on Entanglement. 

I am sorry to the few people who have enjoyed this story and wanted to read it out til the end. I did not make this decision lightly. 

I started working on Entanglement to just let off some steam, as a personal pet project to do in my free time in between more personal and serious projects. However, after reading some of the nice and supportive comments and seeing the few kudos that this has received, I have been filled with regret. I have also stumbled upon a much older fic, Making Amends by Raincheck 8, this fic has a similar premise to mine. Reading this fic and your kind comments have helped realize something. Something important… 

I thank you all that have read and enjoyed this story, if it weren’t for you I never would’ve had this realization or made this decision in the first place. 

As a writer and content creator I want to give this community the best I can offer, that’s all I wish to do. However, I feel that I have failed to do so with this story, which is why I will no longer be working on it. 

But still, I must thank you all. The few of you who have read and enjoyed this story have truly helped me. Your kind words have helped me through a difficult time in my life and in the end, you’ve all motivated me. So, with that in mind, here’s some food for thought. 

  
  


I will be working on a new, and better, story. It is still Steven Universe, it is still Stevinel. However, unlike this one, it will have more time, effort, and thought put into it. There will be some similarities between Entanglement and the new one but in the end, it will be something much better. Something I can be proud of and something I hope this community will enjoy. 

This story will contain a lot of original content and ideas as well as some of my personal headcanons. Despite this, the story will remain as close to canon as possible but still remaining original. If this story comes out and I find out there’s an older story with my exact same ideas then I will gladly delete the story and proceed to kill myself… I’m just joking, suicide isn’t the answer. But I will happily quit my job and stop being a writer. 

I will not be deleting Entanglement, it will remain up. However, it will not be updated after this chapter. 

By the time this update is posted, the story should already be available, visit my profile and it should be there. 

It is titled ‘The Crystalline Heart.’ It’s kinda my own idea of a Spinel spin-off but with Stevinel. Before you ask, yes, there is a non-Stevinel version, but I’m not gonna be releasing it. 

Once again, thank you to everyone who’s read this story, I am truly sorry it’s come to this. But I promise, this story will not disappoint… I hope. But if you’ve liked Entanglement, I’m hopeful you’ll like this. 

With best regards, 

**UniversalMystery**


End file.
